


I Fell In Love With You On New Year's Eve

by lizardk98



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Iwaizumi Hajime Being an Idiot, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru Fluff, M/M, New Year's Eve, Oikawa Tooru's Knee Injury, Pining Iwaizumi Hajime, Volleyball Dorks in Love, iwaoi - Freeform, mattsun and makki are fathers, please leave kunimi alone, soft fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 39,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28470729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardk98/pseuds/lizardk98
Summary: Dreams are just that, right? Dreams. Nothing more, nothing less. At least that's what Iwaizumi tried to convince himself when he started dreaming about his best friend in a more-than-a-friend way. But when he saw him at school, well,  he realized that maybe some dreams do have some meaning behind them...not that he liked it or anything. No, definitely not. Couldn't be him...In which Iwaizumi steadily begins to realize that he's falling utterly and completely head-over-heels in love with Oikawa and he doesn't know how to handle it.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 11
Kudos: 68





	I Fell In Love With You On New Year's Eve

Iwaizumi Hajime stood next to his three best friends and fellow third years just outside of a crowded room, listening to the television countdown the time, waiting to ring in the New Year. He was very aware of his body, physically present, but his mind was nowhere to be found, thoughts slowly trickling out of his head and into space where he wished they would stay and get lost, slowly being sucked up by the lack of oxygen and never making their way back down to earth.

_Ten_

He didn’t know how he had gotten himself into this mess.

_Nine_

Why did he have to catch feeling for someone who was probably going to fly away someday?

_Eight_

He wasn’t good enough, not nearly worthy enough, to even call the man his best friend.

_Seven_

Let alone be in love with him.

_Six_

His anxieties told him that this was a bad idea that it wasn’t too late to turn back.

_Five_

But despite all of this, the only thing that he could think about was kissing him.

_Four_

He knew that he was being selfish, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted this. He needed him.

_Three_

His thoughts quickly plummeted back down to earth, suddenly forcing him to turn his body, now fully facing his best friend. “Tooru…” the name silently fluttered off of his lips, but it was just enough to gain the other man’s attention.

_Two_

“Iwa-chan,” he smiled back, a playful grin pulling on his lips. Iwaizumi grasped the other’s hands and pulled him in, slowly, then all at once…

_One_

“Hajime, I swear to god, I have been calling you for the past 45 minutes! If you don’t get your ass out of bed right now you’re going to be late for school! And turn that damn thing off while you’re at it, it’s getting on my nerves.”

Iwaizumi quickly jolted up in bed at the sound of his mother just outside of his door. He looked down at his phone, which appeared to have been playing his alarm tone on repeat for almost an hour now, and groaned.

_It was just a dream. Yeah, that’s all it was, was just a dream. You need to calm down, Hajime, dreams don’t mean a damn thing. The subconscious is weird. I was texting Oikawa before I fell asleep, that must be why I dreamed about him. Yeah, that’s it. Nothing to worry about._

He rolled over and turned off the alarm, choosing to check his notifications in favor of five more minutes under the covers; it didn’t take him long to get ready, anyway, so he had time. He swiped through the banners crowding his screen, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual. A few emails; one from coach about practice later, a couple of spam emails, and one from the local sports store, notifying him of a flash sale that was happening on ping pong balls. A couple of messages in the group chat, mostly just Mattsun and Makki poking back and forth at each other. He snorted as he read through them, sending an annoyed looking emoji and letting it be. Finally, he had almost reached the end and just had one more to clear off the screen before he had to force himself to emerge from the warmth and actually be a functioning human being.

**One New Message From: Shittykawa**

His breath hitched.

_Okay, you need to calm down, there’s no need to get all worked up. It was just a dream, after all. Just open the message, send a snarky response, and move on. Simple._

His plan proved to be anything but simple. When he opened the message, he was greeted with the face of his best friend sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth through a grin and throwing a peace sign. **Good morning Iwa-chan! Went for a run this morning and saw a porcupine that reminded me of you! He was spiky and cute** **:)** **See you at schoooool <3**

He felt his heart rate pick up, threatening to beat out of his chest, and his hands grew clammy. No matter how much mental coaxing he was doing, he was unable to pull his eyes from the grinning face in front of him. Normally he would have been annoyed at receiving a selfie so early in the morning, but now he couldn’t help but let his eyes linger. The way that the sides of Oikawa’s eyes were crinkling from the smile. The way that the tip of his nose was pink from the chilly morning air. The way that his lips were upturned in a smirk. His lips…

_Fuck._

Iwaizumi did everything in his power to avoid Oikawa at all costs when he’d eventually made his way to school. Literally ducking behind a trash can when he’d heard his best friend looking for him and calling his name from the end of the hallway wasn’t necessarily his best look thus far, but he really didn’t care. He would be able to endure the confused stares as his fellow third years walked by, silently judging. He skipped out on lunch, opting, instead, to take a nap in the library. Avoiding someone was exhausting and he wasn’t sure what would happen when he actually had to interact with Oikawa, but he was going to put it off as long as he could. Before he knew it, the last bell was already sounding, notifying that school was officially over for the day and that clubs would be starting.

 _Shit,_ he thought as he walked toward the changing room. _No, it’s fine. Just go in, get changed, and get to the court. He’s normally a few minutes late anyway being held up by his fangirls…_ Iwaizumi hated the way that the thought of hordes of girls throwing themselves at the setter was suddenly enough to make his blood boil. He was just about to walk into the room when Oikawa strutted over to stand in front of him.

“Iwa-chaaaan,” he whined out, “where have you been all day!? I’ve been looking all over for you and couldn’t find you! I asked around and nobody had seen you either. You weren’t answering my texts and I got worried. You made me eat all alone with Makki and Mattsun, Iwa. _Makki_ and _Mattsun,”_ he emphasized to show his displeasure. “They were talking about…no, never mind. I don’t want to think about it…” he trailed off, the horrified look on his face insinuating that he had probably been scarred for life.

Iwaizumi couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the thought of whatever the hell his friends could have been discussing to make Oikawa this uncomfortable, though it normally didn’t take much. He loved it, making a mental note to ask the pair about it later so that he could torment his friend further. He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts, though, as Oikawa suddenly turned, looking Iwaizumi directly in the eyes and putting his hands on his shoulders, effectively making the latter squirm a bit at the sudden touch. “Don’t do that again. Please.” His voice dropped a bit as he continued, “you weren’t avoiding me were you? You normally at least answer my texts in the morning and all I got was radio silence. It was kind of weird and I didn’t like it,” Oikawa jutted out his hip and placed a hand on it for dramatic effect, never once breaking eye contact. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for a response.

_Yeeeah…I can’t do this._

“I, umm, I’m gonna run to the bathroom. Just get changed and actually get to practice on time for once, Loserkawa,” Iwaizumi said roughly before shimmying out of Oikawa’s grip and jogging in the opposite direction. _Ah, yes, insults. Way to go Hajime, you don’t sound like an ass at all now. And let’s just run away while we’re at it. Smooth move, idiot._ He mentally slapped himself upside the head before turning around and adding quickly, “and make sure you stretch your knee properly this time. I don’t want you getting hurt again.”

“Awwww, Iwa-chan, you do care about me!” he called after him, “but don’t think that this conversation is over, because it’s not!”

Iwaizumi quickly rushed into the bathroom and banged his head against one of the stall doors. “What the hell was that!?” he yelled at himself out loud, “I’m such an idiot…”he let his head lay against the door for a moment before a silent voice came from inside of the stall.

“Ummm, you good man?” the voice quietly asked. He didn’t recognize its owner.

Iwaizumi’s head jolted up and he stared at the door, eyes wide. _Oh my god…_

“For what it’s worth, you’re probably not as big of an idiot as you think,” the voice suggested.

He was mortified. _I have to get out of here. Right now. I can never show my face in this bathroom again._

“You wanna talk about it, buddy?”

As soon as Iwaizumi started to push the door to the gym open, he instantly wished that he hadn’t. The sound of his three friends arguing filled the entire space, echoing off the walls. He had a headache before his second foot even passed the entrance. Was it too late to just skip practice?

“You guys seriously need to stop!” Oikawa shrieked out, a look of pure horror on his face. If Iwaizumi wasn’t already over this day, he probably would have joined in. He loved seeing Oikawa get flustered, but he didn’t exactly think that his heart would be able to handle that very well today. 

“Oh, but Oikawa, dear, we’ve only just begun,” Hanamaki wore a devilish grin as he continued. “I just wanted to know how many times Mattsun can…”

“NO! Do not finish that sentence or I will have you running laps for the entirety of practice!”

Mattsun ignored Oikawa as he looked at Makki and raised his hands, seven fingers up.

“No fucking way,” Makki breathed out a laugh with an incredulous look.

“Yes fucking way,” Mattsun replied, pure evil on his face.

“You’re lying.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Oh suck a dick.”

“Only if it’s yours, bro.”

“Okay we get it!” Oikawa interjected, a slight blush rising on his face. Iwaizumi couldn’t help but think that it was kind of cute the way that the rosy hue faintly dusted his cheeks and the tip of his nose. _Okay, no. He blushes at literally everything, this is nothing new…so why do I suddenly feel the urge to reach out and touch it…_ His thoughts were (thankfully for him) interrupted as his friend continued. “And would you two just, like, date or something already? Just get it over with and stop torturing all of us.”

They just looked at each other and smirked.

“Wait!” Oikawa clapped his hand over his mouth, “are you!?”

The smirking continued.

“Really!?”

“Ha,” Mattsun let out a breathy laugh, “nah.”

“Or maybe we are,” Makki chimed in with a shrug, “we like to keep people on their toes.”

“I’d totally suck your dick, though, if you asked.”

“No homo?”

“No homo.”

“Full homo!” Oikawa squeaked out, mortified. He turned to Iwaizumi, “Iwa-chan, can you believe them!? In front of our child, no less,” he gestured dramatically, arms waving in Kindaichi’s direction as the first year just stood there with an awkward look on his face, actively trying to become invisible.

Iwaizumi had already turned in his room key and checked out of this conversation as soon as it had started, but that didn’t stop his cheeks from beginning to redden at the topic of discussion with a certain…someone…just within arm’s reach. He was searching in his head, looking for words and trying to force them out of his mouth, when he heard a snicker coming from the direction of the asshole twins.

“Ohoho, what’s this?” Mattsun asked as he wiggled his massive eyebrows.

“Your child, you say, eh Tooru?” Makki was wearing a shit-eating grin as he turned toward Iwaizumi. “The only question is…”

The words finally clawed their way out of his mouth as he pleaded, “please don’t finish that sentence,” headache steadily growing worse the longer he was in this conversation.

“…who’s the mother and who’s the father?”

“Well clearly Iwa-chan is the father,” Oikawa laughed before continuing, no hesitation at all, “have you seen his arms? Anyone would be lucky to have him.”

Iwaizumi’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. _What…did he just say?_ He composed himself, feeling his blush spreading to his ears, and knew that that was his cue to leave. He turned on his heels and stiffly walked away.

“Where are you going _daddy?_ ” the strawberry blonde asshole yelled at his back.

“Screw you guys,” he said as he retreated, not turning around.

“No thanks,” the counterpart called after him, “maybe later though!”

There was a moment of silence for Iwaizumi’s fallen pride shared between the three left standing there before Oikawa left to follow him across the gym.

“Ya know, Mattsun,” Makki said after a minute, “I kind of want one now.”

“A volleyball son?” the other nodded in response. “Me too.”

“But where are we…”

“Hey, Kunimi! Come over here son! Come bond with your new fathers.”

Kunimi shot the pair a look of disbelief, “I’m sorry,” he looked at them, and if looks could kill, they would have been long dead, “ _what_ did you just say to me?”

As Oikawa strolled over to Iwaizumi, now at the other side of the gym, he caught the tail end of a conversation that his best friend was having with Yahaba, a second-year setter on the team. They were so immersed in whatever they were talking about, that they hadn’t even noticed when he approached.

“…so that’s basically what I wanted to go over with you, Yahaba.” Iwaizumi had a soft smile on his face as he explained a play to his junior, “you’re already such a great player but I think that if we do something like this,” he circled something on the white board that he was holding with a green marker, “we might be able to pull out even more of your potential.”

“Ya think so?” the younger man looked at his senior with sparkling eyes, “I’d love some more play time! Maybe then I can finally show off how much of a badass I am on the court.”

“Heh,” Iwaizumi breathed out a laugh, “well I’ll definitely see what I can do, but I’ll make sure to talk to coach about it later. I’m really glad that you’re so open to this. The thought just kinda came to me and I knew that you would be able to take on the challenge.”

“Thanks so much, Iwaizumi san!” the second year turned to walk away but tilted his head back, “Ya know, sometimes I wonder why Oikawa san is the captain and you aren’t. You’re more than capable.”

Behind the pair, Oikawa’s smile began to falter.

“I mean of course I am,” Iwaizumi started, “but, and don’t ever tell him that I said this because he’ll be insufferable and make my life a living hell, but I’m actually pretty glad that he’s the captain,” a smile grew on his lips. “I honestly can’t think of anyone better suited for the job. He just- he just knows how to lead. And I know that he may seem annoying, because he is, but he really does bring out the best in everyone around him in one way or another.”

A smirk was on Yahaba’s lips as he turned again to strut away, for real this time. “Yeah, whatever you say. I’m gonna go now before you start gushing about your boyfriend even more.”

“I-I wasn’t- what do you- I don’t,” he sputtered out but was interrupted by a new presence in Yahaba’s spot just seconds later.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa threw an arm around the other’s shoulders, “you think I’m a good captain?” He looked down and locked onto his best friend’s eyes with his own, batting his lashes. _Okay, wow, since when were his eyes so…pretty?_

“No I don’t, don’t be an idiot.” _Aaaand we’re back to insults. Cool. Good to know._

“Yes you do, you just said it and you can’t take it back now. It’s engrained in my brain forever.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Mhmm, whatever you say. Hey,” Oikawa lowered his voice as he grew more serious, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

Oikawa didn’t tend to take on a serious tone very often, wanting to be perceived as the happy-go-lucky captain that people could laugh at and with, but also rely on. However, there were moments where he would let his guard down around the people that he trusted the most, and Iwaizumi was his best friend, after all. They’d been through a lot together.

“Umm, sure, I guess. What’s up? Is everything okay? Is your knee bothering you again?” Though he had a bit of a tough exterior, Iwaizumi had always cared deeply for his best friend and wore his heart on his sleeve. Yes, he was Oikawa’s biggest bully, but he was also his biggest support.

“Yeah, I’m okay, Hajime,” Oikawa began, “but I should be asking you if you’re okay.”

“What- what do you mean?”

“Well, I didn’t see or hear from you all day, and ever since I have, you’ve just been kind of…skittish? Did I do something to upset you? Did the conversation with Makkki and Mattsun make you uncomfortable? If I went too far with something…” he trailed off, insecurity quickly spreading on his face, now adorned with a frown, eyebrows knitting together.

_Shit. No, it’s not you I promise. It’s me. And my stupid feelings. Ha, but I can’t tell you that. Wait, he’s frowning. No I don’t want to see that. Please smile. You’re so beautiful when you smile…okay that’s enough of that, let’s not do that right this second. Okay Hajime. Say something. Now. Aaaand go._

“N-no, Tooru, it’s not you at all,” Iwaizumi started, unsure of what he was going to say next. “I’ve just been having a…weird day today?” the statement came out as more of a question than an answer, then softly to himself, “yeah, a weird day.”

Oikawa, though still worried about his friend and determined to get to the root of the problem, found some relief in the fact that he had not been a contributing factor in his weird mood, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up into a small smile. “Well good. Not good, because weird isn’t very fun, but still good.” He hesitated a bit before continuing, “You-you would tell me if I ever did anything to upset you right? Because I know that sometimes I may take things a bit too far, and I would never want to make you uncomfortable because you know that you’re my favorite person in the world and I just worry sometimes that-”

“Oh would you please stop talking, Shittykawa, you know that I would,” Iwaizumi cut him off before he had a chance to spiral further down into his insecurity. It didn’t tend to happen very often, but he hated seeing his friend doubt himself.

Oikawa’s smile was now fully on display on his face, internally elated at hearing the familiar nickname that he pretended to hate. “Well good! Me too. But really though, Iwa-chan, tell me about your day; what made it weird? It’s not like you to be affected this much by, well, anything really.”

“Wow, way to make me sound emotionless,” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

“You know what I mean you big dummy.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he didn’t know how to answer the question, trying to think of some bullshit excuse that would get him out of this conversation, “Umm, I just…”

“Guys, seriously! Get your asses over here! Oikawa and Iwaizumi stop flirting. Matsuhanna and Hanamaki, put Kunimi down _right now._ Kindaichi…get a haircut, boy.” Iwaizumi had never been so happy to see coach in his life, though he could feel his blush returning at his insinuating words.

“Coming, coach!” Oikawa half-yelled, half-sang, then turned to his friend, “but don’t think you’re getting out of this conversation again. I’m coming over after school,” he then skipped over to the other side of the gym where his team was slowly gathering.

_Greeeat. Can’t wait…_

“Iwaizumi! You have to the count of-“

“Sorry, coach, I’m coming!”

“Ugh, practice was _brutal_ today,” Oikawa sighed out dramatically as he flopped down on Iwaizumi’s bed, snuggling down into the warmth.

“Umm, no, you were just being _lazy,”_ Iwaizumi scowled down at him, “and would you please get your sweaty ass off of my pillow?”

Oikawa peeked up from beneath the blanket with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Make me.”

“Alright, but you asked for this,” Iwaizumi smirked as he roughly yanked the pillow out from beneath his best friend and smacked him hard in the face, earning a rewarding yelp.

“Iwa-chan! Watch my hair!” Oikawa shrieked through his laughter as he was already grabbing hold of the other pillow on the bed and swinging wildly.

“Oh, I’m watching, and I’d say that this is actually quite the improvement.”

_Whack_

“Don’t be rude, you asshole, you’re just jealous of my luscious locks!”

_Whack_

“Yeah okay, pretty boy.”

_Whack. Whack. Whack._

Before Iwaizumi and Oikawa knew it, they had become a mess of limbs and blankets and pillows and feathers on the bed, laughing so hard that they were clutching their sides in a feeble attempt to steady themselves.

All at once, the realization of the position that he and Oikawa were in hit Iwaizumi in the face like a brick wall. They were so close, literally on top of one another. So close that he could see the lights in the room sparkling in his big, brown eyes. So close that he could just reach out and touch his hair… _It does look really soft. One touch probably wouldn’t hurt…_ He reached his hand out…

“Well would you look at this. It appears that I’ve travelled back in time and my boys are ten again,” came the chuckling voice of Iwaizumi’s mother from the doorway. “It’s nice to see you, Tooru; you haven’t been over in a few weeks. I was starting to worry that my son had finally managed to scare you off.”

Oikawa had always loved Iwaizumi’s mother like his own. She had been there for him through some pretty awful times and he felt a special closeness to her. She was the first person that he had told that he was bisexual, even before his own parents or best friend. She held his hand and let him cry on her couch when his first girlfriend dumped him because he was “too focused on volleyball.” She had always made sure that he was invited on every family trip and included in every family activity, knowing that his parent’s didn’t always have much free-time to spend with him. She made sure to cheer for him just as much as (and sometimes more than) her own son at their games, from the time that they were children to now. She had always made him feel loved.

“Mom!” Oikawa tried to sit up but was promptly smacked back down into the bed with a pillow, “Ouch! You wound me Iwa-chan,” he turned to his friend’s mother, “I’ve missed you too! I wish I could’ve come over more but practice has been kicking my ass. There are going to be scouts at the Miyagi Prefecture Inter-high Qualifier and I need to make sure I’m at my best but I’m so nervous! Like, what if I mess up?”

_Like you could ever mess up. You’re literally perfect at everything._

“Oh that’s wonderful!” she clapped her hands together; “I just know that they’re going to love you, dear. You’ll be amazing, I know it.”

“Thanks mom!” he wore a wide, toothy grin on his face. “But no, your awful son hasn’t managed to scare me off just yet. He’s currently on pretty thin ice tho-”

_Whack_

“Oops. My hand slipped,” Iwaizumi shrugged. Oikawa shot him a glare.

Iwaizumi’s mother laughed again as she watched her son and the boy that she considered one of her own wrestle on the bed for control of the pillows for a moment. She knew her son better than he knew himself sometimes, and could sense the subtle but apparent difference in the interaction, but decided that this was something that he needed to figure out on his own. She would only intervene if she needed to which, knowing how dense her son could be, she figured was more probable than not. “Well then, I’ll leave you boys to it. Try not to hurt each other too bad and let me know if you need anything. Also, Tooru dear, please make sure you bundle up before you leave, it’s getting pretty chilly out there and I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.” She turned around and left the room with a knowing smile on her face.

“I love your mother,” Oikawa said with a genuine grin after he and Iwaizumi had finally settled down. They had decided to call it a draw, but the setter secretly knew that he had gotten the best of his friend.

“Yeah, she loves you too. I’m convinced, sometimes, that she would rather you be her son than me,” Iwaizumi chuckled.

“Oh, nonsense! You know that she wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Oikawa scooted over to the side of the bed that Iwaizumi was sitting on and placed a hand on his thigh gently, “So are you going to tell me what was happening today?”

 _Gulp_ “Do I have a choice?”

“Nope,” he said with a stern look, though still soft.

“I don’t know, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi started, “I guess it was just an off day.”

“You don’t get those very often anymore.” Oikawa was visibly concerned as the corners of his mouth turned down. “Is your medication still working okay?”

There were only two people who knew that Iwaizumi was on medication for his anxiety, and it was the two people that were currently in his house. Two years ago, when the pair was in their first year of high school, Oikawa had noticed a change in his best friend’s behavior. He was constantly putting himself down and selling himself short, believing that he was a burden and only holding the team back. The overthinking was becoming detrimental to his mental health and his grades were plummeting, so Oikawa decided to take it to Iwaizumi’s mother. He was put on medication soon after and his days became progressively better and better until the bad days rarely came anymore.

“Yes, I promise it’s still working. And you know that I would tell you if I felt it coming on again,” Iwaizumi felt that he owed so much to his friend, who had always seemed to know what was best for him. He had never noticed the change in himself, and even denied it when the other had initially brought it to him, but he was thankful each and every day that he had decided to intervene. Oikawa had made him promise, soon after he started the medication, that if he felt the thoughts coming back that he would tell him. He had kept that promise thus far and had every intention of continuing to do so.

“So what’s up, buttercup? Tell me about it.”

“I don’t think it’s really anything in particular that made me feel off today.” _Umm , yeah so that’s a fucking lie._ “I was up really late last night studying and woke up really late this morning and I think that the combination just decided to tag-team me today.” _Oh, and the fact that my brain has all of a sudden decided that you’re the most stunningly beautiful person in the world. Stupid brain._ “Tomorrow should be better.”

“You promise you’re not lying to me?”

“I promise.” _More lies._

“Alrighty then!” Oikawa clapped his hands dramatically, “now that I know that you’re okay I’ll be able to sleep tonight.” Iwaizumi felt the heat return to his cheeks. “I am gonna head out now, though. Your mom was right when she said that it’s getting cold, and I promised to babysit Takeru tonight.”

“Alright, don’t be an idiot and be careful.”

He got up to leave but turned around in the doorway. “Oh, also, I wanted to ask if you’re sure you didn’t want to take any of the college prep classes? There’s still room, you could totally join!”

“Umm, no, I’m okay.” Iwaizumi looked away nervously. “Thanks for checking, though.”

Oikawa’s smile faltered slightly but he quickly plastered it back on. “Alright, well, have a good night babe,” he winked at the other suggestively.

“Oh just leave before I punt you out the window.”

After Oikawa left, Iwaizumi was left alone with his thoughts, which was a scary enough combination when he was overthinking, but this time it seemed somehow worse. These thoughts were filled with Oikawa. The way that he had complimented his arms at practice. The way that he had called the two of them Kindaichi’s parents (which was still kind of weird, but his heart hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet). The pillow fight that had left them both out of breath and on top of each other. _I don’t think that I’d necessarily mind being on top of- NOPE. That is not how this inner monologue is going to go. Absolutely not. Try again, Hajime._ The way that he cared for Iwaizumi more than himself, sometimes, and knew him better than anyone else. The way that his heart fluttered when he called him “babe,” even though he had jokingly called him that many times before. The way that he had a new notification sitting on his phone from him- _Wait. When did that get there? He literally just left. I swear to god if he sent another selfie…_

**One New Message From: Shittykawa**

**I know that I just left your house and I know that you’re scowling right now so just wipe it off before I come back and slap it off, but I forgot to tell you that I love you. I love you! Have a good night. You’d better sleep tonight or I’m going to hurt you :)**

Iwaizumi kept reading and re-reading the message, eyes continuously finding their way back to that one sentence. “I love you!” This was nothing new. Oikawa always made sure that he told his friends that he loved them. But this time…

_I- I think I might love you too._

“But Iwa-chaaaaan,” Oikawa’s voice whined through the speaker on Iwaizumi’s phone, “I wanted to go grace the new karaoke bar that’s opening tonight with my beautiful singing, but my sister decided to just up and leave Takeru with me so that she and her husband can have some ‘ _alone time_ ,’” he gagged. “Obviously I can’t just leave him here. Please come over so I don’t have to wallow in self-pity alone?”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes so hard that he was surprised they weren’t rolling across the floor right then. He let out an exasperated sigh before going to answer. “Oikawa, I-”

“And before you say that you can’t or anything buzz-kill-y like that, we can do whatever you want! We can order takeout from anywhere you want, or pop some popcorn and watch a movie, or-”

“Look, I wish I could, but I _have_ to study for this test tomorrow. This section is kicking my ass and I need to get a good grade. My mother might skin me alive if I come home with anything less than a C…” he trailed off at the thought of incurring the wrath of his mother and shuddered. She may be small, but she was scary. “Also, I thought I told you not to bother me tonight?”

“…we could watch your favorite Godzilla movie again?”

“No.” 

“We could do face masks?”

“Why the hell would I want to do that?”

“Self-care is important, Iwa-chan, you won’t be young forever,” he sighed dramatically before continuing; “we could scroll through instagram and make fun of people?”

“Tempting, but no.”

“I’ll give you a shoulder massage?”

Oikawa would sometimes massage the other’s shoulders after a particularly stressful day or difficult practice to help him loosen up, and Iwaizumi hadn’t typically thought anything of it, other than that his friend was just helping him out. But something about being offered a massage right now hit him differently. Before, it was just his friend being nice…but now it was the thought of Oikawa’s slender but strong hands on his shoulders, squeezing and running them down his arms, the good type of pain that would come from his thumbs digging in deep, the warmth from where the touch would linger…

“Hellooooo? Iwa-chan, are you still there?”

Iwaizumi gulped hard and took in a shaky deep breath before giving his answer. “Fine, but only so that you’ll stop pestering me.” _Smooth._

“Ha! I knew I could get you to come over,” Iwaizumi could practically hear the cocky grin that was most definitely plastered on his best friend’s face right now. “Be here in ten! I’ll be waiting!”

Iwaizumi was standing in front of Oikawa’s door exactly ten minutes later, trying to force himself to knock. _Okay, Hajime, just knock, it’s not that hard. Just knuckles on the door. You know how to knock, don’t act like you’ve forgotten. You can do it. I believe in you…You can’t do it can you? Okay, let’s try this. You’re going to count to three, take a deep breath, and then knock. Yeah, that’ll work, thanks man. Any time, me._

He took a second to compose his thoughts and counted to three, taking a big, deep breath in and-

“Yahoo! Umm, are you okay?” Oikawa had swung open the door and was now staring at Iwaizumi, whose cheeks were puffed out.

“Ah! Oi-Oikawa. Y-yeah, I’m all good, everything is good here!” Iwaizumi squeaked out before deepening his voice. “I was just…doing some breathing exercises? Yeah, breathing exercises. I’ve been trying them out lately, supposed to help with your health or something like that. Been doing them every day. I forgot to do them earlier, though, and figured I should do them now.” _Yep, totally believable._

“Breathing exercises. Outside of my house. In the cold,” Oikawa repeated back at him, cocking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, what about it, Loserkawa?”

The corners of Oikawa’s lips tweaked up just a bit and he looked as though he wanted to say something but ultimately decided to shake it off. “Oh nothing at all. You’re kind of weird sometimes, Iwa-chan.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Iwaizumi pushed past the setter to get into the house before it became apparent that the blush quickly spreading on his face wasn’t just from the cold.

“Hey, Uncle Iwa!” Oikawa’s nephew, Takeru, said excitedly as he ran over to the new visitor, “so Uncle Tooru actually got you to cave after all? I didn’t think he had a chance.”

“Have a little more faith in me, kid,” Oikawa pouted, “I happen to know my best friend quite well, thank you very much. That _includes_ what it takes to get him to come over,” he turned to Iwaizumi and winked. The other coughed in response, seemingly a bit flustered.

“Yeah, sure, whatever, I’m gonna go to your room and play some video games,” the ten-year-old said and turned to leave. “If you get sick of him, you can come play with me, Iwa!” he called before disappearing up the stairs.

“That kid is going to be the death of me,” Oikawa pinched the bridge of his nose, an exasperated look on his face.

“Yeah, but he’s a good kid. And you know you love him more than anything. I think you’ll live,” Iwaizumi nudged the other in the side, “plus, you’re actually a pretty good uncle.”

Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi, mouth slightly agape.

_He’s staring at me… Shit, is there something on my face? Does my hair look weird? I knew I should’ve at least brushed through it before leaving. Maybe I said something that I shouldn’t have-_

His spiraling was cut off as Oikawa clapped his hands together. “Okay! Let’s go figure out what to order for dinner. I know I promised you that you could choose, but please nothing too spicy,” he asked with a pleading look on his face.

Iwaizumi grinned.

An hour and a half later, the pair was lounging on the floor in the living room watching Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla for the hundredth time, the remains of their dinner strewn to the side: extra spicy agedashi tofu. One container was completely empty while the other appeared to have only a few bites taken out of it.

Oikawa yawned and leaned down so that his head was lying in Iwaizumi’s lap.

“W-what are you doing Oikawa?” he sputtered out.

“M’tired. Your lame movie is putting me to sleep again,” the other said with a content smile on his face.

_Wow, okay, so this is happening. Breathe, Hajime…I said breathe, dammit! Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it. And I’m thinking about it. I can’t help it though; he looks really beautiful right now. His hair still looks so soft. Maybe just this once I could…_

He slowly reached one hand down, tentatively placing it on top of his best friend’s head. _Oh my god, is his hair made out of silk!?_ He cautiously started moving his fingers in the hair, unsure of how Oikawa would react. The setter let out a satisfied sigh and snuggled further into the lap that he was occupying. Iwaizumi took this as a sign that he was allowed to continue, and began playing with the other’s hair, fingers massaging his scalp as he went.

“Mmmm, Hajime, feels nice,” Oikawa mumbled and Iwaizumi smiled softly.

He continued for a few more minutes, both men silent aside from the occasional sigh of contentment coming from Iwaizumi’s lap, until Oikawa suddenly jolted up without warning. “Iwa-chan, I promised you a massage!”

“Y-you really don’t have t-”

“Nope! A promise is a promise, now get your ass over here,” Oikawa sat against the couch and patted the space in between his legs, signifying where the other was to sit.

“O-okay,” Iwaizumi breathed out before cautiously moving to sit in the open space. He tensed up.

Oikawa patted the shoulders in front of him and let out a low chuckle, “oh relax, would you. It’s not like I’m going to hurt you or anything.”

_Maybe not physically, but try telling that to my heart._

Oikawa started slow, roughly pressing his thumbs into the muscles at the base of Iwaizumi’s neck, adding his other fingers as he moved onto the shoulders and squeezed. Iwaizumi’s skin was on fire, being lit ablaze as the fingers danced their tantalizing dance along the surface. He let out a sigh and relaxed completely into the touch. The hands worked on his shoulders for a few more minutes before slowly making their way down his arms, pausing for a moment to squeeze his biceps. Iwaizumi was thankful for the fact that Oikawa could not see his face right now, completely overtaken with a blush and eyes closed, chewing on his bottom lip. A look of pure bliss. The hands left his biceps and moved down to his forearms before nails raked lightly back up his arms, over his shoulders, and down his back. Iwaizumi shuddered at the sensation and Oikawa let out a low, breathy chuckle. “Too much for you?” He only shook his head, afraid to speak. Fingers danced up his back this time, returning to the base of his neck, and stopped at his hair. Iwaizumi couldn’t take it anymore, twisting slightly, positioning himself so that he could see his best friend clearly.

Oikawa was staring back at him with hooded eyes. “Well, hello there.”

“Tooru, I-”

“I’m home!” boomed a loud voice from the front door, “Tooru where are you? What have you done with my son? You’re both still alive right?” Oikawa’s sister and brother-in-law had returned home.

Iwaizumi quickly scrambled to stand up, sitting down on the couch as two more people entered the living room.

“Oh, Hajime! I didn’t know you were going to be here,” the woman ran over and he was quickly enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

“Can’t…breathe…” he squeaked out and the other laughed.

“Oh get over it, I’m happy to see you,” she said as she released the younger man, “you need to come over more often when I’m home.”

“I definitely will! I’ve missed you too,” he gave a genuine smile.

“Well anyway, sorry for interrupting your date. Have you seen my son, Tooru? Ya know, about yea tall,” she gestured, “looks like me, answers to Takeru, was supposed to be being watched by you.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes grew wide as his brain worked to catch up with what she had just implied. “W-we weren’t, I mean, th-this isn’t, I mean-”

“Oh calm down, it was just a joke. You’re a bit more jumpy tonight than usual.”

“Mom! Dad!” Takeru yelled as he ran down the stairs and latched onto his parents. “It was _awful_. Uncle Tooru forced Iwa to come over against his will and made me stay in his room. He didn’t feed me and told me to go play video games and leave him alone!”

Oikawa scoffed loudly, “Excuse me? Rude!”

Takeru stuck his tongue out and received the same gesture back from his uncle.

The boy’s mother gave a hearty laugh as she took a step forward, “alright break it up you two. Takeru, come on sweetie, it’s time for bed. If you come now we can read a bedtime story!”

“Al _right_!” the boy hooped and hollered as he ran back up the stairs.

“Well then,” Oikawa’s sister turned to the pair with a suggestive look on her face, “I’ll leave you to it. Pick up where you left off or whatever,” she waved her hand dismissively as she retreated upstairs, husband in tow behind her, shooting the two younger men an apologetic look.

Iwaizumi turned around and was greeted with a smirk.

Oikawa looked the other dead in the eye, not once breaking eye contact. “You were saying?”

“I, umm, I was just saying that I,” but the words that he wanted to say wouldn’t come. “I should probably leave. I still need to study for that test and I was here for longer than I was expecting.”

“Okay,” Oikawa gave him a soft smile, but Iwaizumi couldn’t help but notice the tinge of hurt behind it. He turned to leave but was stopped when the setter called out to him. “Hey, Iwa-chan!” the other turned around, “be careful getting home okay? Text me when you’re there. I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” he said, flashing a genuine smile this time. “Thanks for coming over, again.”

“Any time,” Iwaizumi smiled back.

As he was about to walk out the door, he was surprised to feel something pulling at his sleeve. He looked down to see Takeru, staring up at him intently.

“What’s up, kid?” Iwaizumi questioned.

“Do you like my Uncle Tooru?” The older of the two started to cough loudly, unsure if he had heard the younger correctly.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said do you like Uncle Tooru? Do you want to, like, marry him someday? Because that would be cool and you would, like, actually be my Uncle Iwa then!”

Iwaizumi started down at the child for a minute, eyes wide. He knew his answer but couldn’t bring himself to admit it just yet. _Saying it out loud will only make it real._ “Goodnight Takeru,” he ruffled the other’s hair softly, “go get in bed now before your parents come looking for you.”

Iwaizumi stepped out of the Oikawa household and doubled over like the wind had been kicked out of him, but not from the cold. He could still feel burning traces of fingers on his skin, and he shuddered as he placed his hands over his arms, longing for them to be a different pair. What he didn’t know was that, from his room on the second floor, Oikawa was staring at him through the window, running his fingers through his hair.

After taking a few moments to collect his thoughts, Iwaizumi slowly trudged back to his house, the whole time wanting nothing more than to turn back around and be with Oikawa again. He knew that he would see him at school tomorrow, but that wasn’t nearly soon enough. Images of heads on laps and hands on arms clouded his brain as he opened the door to his own home, getting halfway up the stairs before hearing someone clearing their throat rather loudly from the bottom.

“Oh, hey mom.”

His mother put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes. “Well it’s nice to see that my son is alive. Whatever could I have possibly done to be graced with your presence?”

“What are you talking abo-”

“Do you not check your damn phone?” she cut him off. “I got home from work four hours ago and you were gone, didn’t let me know where you were going, I was under the impression you were going to be studying all night. So I called and texted you and, can you guess what happened next? I didn’t get a response,” she stared daggers at him.

Iwaizumi reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to assess the damage. Sure enough, his screen was completely taken over with 34 texts and 18 calls, all from the same contact: **Mom.**

“I am so sorry, mom. I went over to Oikawa’s last minute and we decided to have dinner and watch a movie and I guess I didn’t even notice. I know that that’s no excuse but-”

She raised her hand to stop him. “It’s okay, Hajime, I’m just glad that you’re home safe now…so you were with Oikawa, huh?” her voice had taken on a more mischievous tone, but her son was too involved in his thoughts, reminiscing and replaying the last few hours over and over in his head to notice.

He let out a content sigh. “Yeah, I was.”

“He’s a good friend, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“He’s been there for you through a lot, hasn’t he?”

Yeah, he has.”

“You love him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” _Shit._ “I-I mean, of course I do! He’s my best friend, after all. Yep! My best friend. Me and him. Friends til’ the end. Nothing more, nothing less, ha ha ha…” he laughed nervously as the blood drained from his face. _I need to get out of here._ “Mom, I’m just gonna-“

“Go study for your test,” she gave him a warm smile that took some of the panic away. “I love you son. I always will.”

“Y-yeah! You too. I mean I love you too!” He rushed to the second floor, taking the stairs two at a time, “goodnight!”

Once Iwaizumi had made it to the safe confines of his room, he rested his back against the closed door and sunk down to the floor, head in his knees. “I am so screwed,” he muttered under his breath.

“Do you trust me, Hajime?” Oikawa questioned, voice low, as he ran his hands up and down the front of Iwaizumi’s clothed chest.

The other took a deep breath before bringing his eyes up to meet the ones in front of him. The view was breathtaking. Oikawa’s eyes were wide and round and rich like chocolate. They were full of nothing but love. He craved more of them. He reached his hands up so that they were buried in the setter’s hair on the back of his head. “You know that I do, Tooru. I trust you more than anyone else.”

“That’s what I was hoping you would say,” Oikawa purred as he ran a finger along Iwaizumi’s collar bone, slowly moving to his shoulders, down his arms, and finally to the hem of his shirt. He pushed under the material, running his hands lightly over the toned abdominal muscles in front of him. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

Iwaizumi bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes at the feeling of his shirt being lifted up and over his head. _I can’t believe this is happening. This is too good to be true…_

…and it was, because when he opened his eyes next, it wasn’t the alluring features of his best friend that he was greeted with, but rather his ceiling fan, the low sound being emitted from it and Iwaizumi’s breathing the only sounds occupying the still room.

 _It was all a dream. Oh my god, it was just a dream._ He took deep breaths to calm himself down, heart rate rising quickly as the images in the dream came back to him. _Why does my subconscious hate me so much all of a sudden,_ he groaned as he threw his hands over his face, which were noticeably burning up. Reaching down, he checked his phone, eyes squinting and attempting to focus in on the bright screen in front of them. It displayed the time: **5:00 AM.** _Okay, that’s still two hours before I have to be at school. I can just go back to sleep for another hour and forget all about this._ That’s when he noticed the presence of a rather…unwelcome visitor. _…or I can go take a cold shower instead._

He dragged his body to the bathroom, still heavy with sleep, and turned on the water, letting the cold sensation envelop him and awaken his senses. Once he had managed to cool down enough and didn’t wish to feel as though he was taking an ice bath anymore, he turned the handle and the bathroom instantly steamed up as hot water came spilling out of the shower head. He stood there for so long he’d lost all sense of time. Had he been in for ten minutes or an hour? He wasn’t sure, but he also didn’t care. All that mattered was that the water was effectively melting away his stress and anxiety, muscles completely relaxed and head completely empty.

A little bit later, after he was content with the state that he was in, and felt as though he would somewhat be able to pass as a functioning human being, he stopped the water. At some point during his shower, he thought he had heard his mother yell something up at him from the living room, but he’d shaken it off. Whatever it was could wait until he was dressed and downstairs. He looked around for his towel before remembering that he had forgotten to replace it after doing his laundry yesterday. This wasn’t much of a problem, as his bathroom was connected to his room, so the chances of his mother seeing his bare ass were slim to none. It would just be more annoying than anything as he dripped water across the floor.

He groaned in annoyance and shook his head a few times, excess water flying across the room, and turned the door knob. The sight that he was greeted with when he opened the door would have, any other time, been more than welcome, but given the circumstances, he was simply mortified.

Oikawa was lounging against the wall on Iwaizumi’s bed, feet propped up and eyes trained on his phone in his lap, smiling as he scrolled. “Good morning! How did you sleep last ni-AAH!” he yelped as he looked up from the phone, eyes tripling in size and face instantly turning about thirty shades of red. He blinked a couple of times before quickly turning himself around on the bed, throwing his face into his knees. “What are you doing!?”

“What am _I_ doing!? This is my damn house! What the hell are _you_ doing?” Iwaizumi yelled back, face heating up once again.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Your mom let me in and told me I could just wait in your room!”

Iwaizumi shook his head. _This has to be karma for last night._ “Okay but that still doesn’t explain why you’re here at,” he looked at the time on his phone, “six in the fucking morning.”

“Umm, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa sounded nervous, a tone that he rarely used, “do-do you think you could put on some clothes? So I can turn around and we can talk?”

Suddenly very aware of that fact that he was still standing there, completely naked, while Oikawa was still in the room, he scrambled to put on the closest clean uniform he could find, struggling a bit to get it on over his still-wet body, and sat at the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on Oikawa’s shoulder to let him know that he could now turn around.

Iwaizumi set a stern gaze on the other. “So would you like to start by telling me what you’re doing here?”

“W-well, I thought that I would bring you coffee this morning and surprise you,” his eyes darted everywhere around the room except for the ones staring at him, “and also as my way of saying sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“A couple of things actually. First, for being selfish and taking you away from your studying to come over just because I was lonely, and second for my sister interrupting last night…” his voice trailed off and he swallowed hard, “and I guess I now have a third thing to apologize for.”

Iwaizumi stared at him incredulously. Was this the same Oikawa that he had been with just last night? The same Oikawa who snuggled into his lap, who tenderly trailed his fingers all over his arms and back, who looked at him with hooded eyes and no regrets?

He cleared his throat. “First of all, don’t you dare think that you were being selfish, because you and I both know that it was ultimately my decision to come over. I wouldn’t have done so if I really hadn’t wanted or wasn’t able to.” Oikawa smiled a bit at the reassuring words. “Second of all, though your sister may have come in at a bit of an…inopportune time, I was happy to have been able to see her for a bit. And third of all, why don’t we just agree that this morning never happened?” Oikawa looked as though he wanted to refute but Iwaizumi continued, “plus, it’s not like we’ve never seen each other pretty much naked in the changing room before. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen more than enough of everyone on the team to last me a lifetime…” he shuddered in horror.

Oikawa laughed hard at this, “Oh my god, I can’t even count on both of my hands the amount of times that my poor eyes have been subjected to Makki’s pasty, bare ass.” The room filled with laughter, any awkward feelings being pushed out the window. “Although,” Oikawa continued after he’d composed himself for the most part, eyeing his friend up and down, “it’s not like you have anything to be embarrassed of.”

Iwaizumi screamed internally but remained (mostly) composed on the outside. “So anyway, the moral of the story is that no, I will not be accepting your apology, because you have nothing to apologize for.” Oikawa looked like he wanted to protest but the other held up his hand, “but I will most definitely be accepting your coffee. I have a feeling I’m going to need it today.” He smiled at the setter, “Now let’s get to school?”

“But we still have an hour?”

“Eh, we’ll take the scenic route.”

Iwaizumi walked out of his last class of the day feeling pretty confident about the exam that he’d just taken…pretty confident that he had managed to completely flunk it, that is. He banged his head onto the wall in front of him, an echo resonating through the hallway, praying to every god that he could think of that he’d somehow managed to just barely scrape by. _It’s not my fault that my brain is so smitten all of a sudden that I can’t even think straight anymore. Heh, straight. Definitely nothing straight about these thoughts lately…oh god, I’ve been spending too much time with Makki and Mattsun._

He shook his head roughly, earning a few concerned stares from some other students in the vicinity, before pulling himself together and walking away. He’d gotten out of class early and he wasn’t taking any college prep classes, so he headed in the direction of the club room, figuring that he could get a few minutes of practice in alone before classes officially let out and chaos ensued.

He hummed to himself as he turned the knob and walked into the room, the familiarly disgusting smell of sweat and high-school boy burning his nostrils. He cringed a bit before walking over to his locker and stuffing his bag inside, unaware of the other presence in the room until it spoke.

“Oh hey!” Oikawa greeted his friend with a smile, “looks like you got out of class early too.”

“I…I…” 

“Oh that’s right, you had your test at the end of the day! How did it go? I’m sure you aced it like always,” he chuckled before returning to what he had been doing.

Iwaizumi couldn’t have answered even if he wanted to, seeing as his mouth had instantly gone completely dry at the sight of the most godly thing known to man right in front of him, or rather, the most godly thing known to this man.

Oikawa was standing in front of his locker, completely shirtless and rummaging through his bag in search of his practice jersey. The setter was lean and not overly muscular but, to Iwaizumi, the way that the outline of a six-pack lightly dusted his stomach was an absolute sin. The freckles that painted constellations on the smooth skin of his back and arms were enough to bring any man to his knees. Iwaizumi had obviously seen Oikawa shirtless countless times before and after games and at the pool and such, but this was the first time that he was truly taking note of the little details, appreciating the components that merged together perfectly to make someone so flawless. He hadn’t even realized that he had been staring for as long as he was. His soul had slowly trickled its way out of his body and did not seem to have any intention of returning for the foreseeable future.

“ _Do you want to touch me, Hajime?”_

Iwaizumi came back to life in an instant.

“W-what did you just say?” his eyes were wide, though Oikawa couldn’t tell if it was fear or something else that was occupying them.

“I said do you want to come practice with me? What did you think I said?”

Iwa shook his head, reasoning that perhaps the banging of his brain against his skull would be enough to wake it up and bring it back to reality. “Oh, nothing. I was just spacing out I guess and didn’t hear what you said,” he scratched at the base of his neck and let out a nervous laugh.

“Hmmmm. You’re a terrible liar, you know? But I’ll let it pass this time,” he turned to leave, “I’m gonna head in, just come find me after you’re changed!”

The pair had barely been able to practice uninterrupted for ten minutes, Oikawa setting the ball and Iwaizumi spiking it down, when, right on schedule, chaos walked in.

“Oh my god, I am literally _begging_ you at this point.” Kunimi walked into the gym with two arms that definitely did not belong to him around his shoulders, Hanamaki on the left and Matsukawa on the right. The normally laid-back and docile first year was practically oozing anger. “ _Please_ stop calling me your son,” he shrugged off Mattsun, “and please stop putting your arms around me like that. People are starting to stare in the hallway,” Makki was next. “Oh, and while we’re on the topic, would you _please_ stop coming to the first year classrooms looking for me? It’s creepy and weird.”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa watched the scene unfold and looked at their friends, expecting to see hurt or regret in their eyes. They expected anything, really, but the devilish grins that were adorning their faces. They should have known better.

“But Kunimi, you’re just so cute and we love you!” Mattsun threw his arms around the younger and squeezed him tight.

“Yeah! And we know that you love us, too. This is just you going through your rebellious phase and we accept that,” Makki joined in on the group hug.

Kunimi’s gaze met the captain’s, his eyes pleading _help me._

Oikawa sighed and rubbed his temples before stepping forward. “Oh my god, guys, just let go.” When they acted like they didn’t hear him, he raised his voice and pointed at the two of them dramatically, “I demand that you release the first-year this instant!”

Reluctantly, they let go and Kunimi instantly ran over to where Kindaichi was doubled-over laughing from the other side of the gym.

Makki shrugged his shoulders. “Meh, he’ll come around,” then turning to his counterpart, “let’s just go practice for now.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Oikawa stopped them in their tracks. “I am not letting you two near each other for the rest of practice! Makki, go with Iwa-chan, Mattsun you’re with me.”

The pair held hands and stared at each other lovingly before saying their parting words and walking to opposite sides of the gym, acting as though they would never see the other again.

Iwaizumi and Hanamaki practiced receives for a little while before deciding to sit down against the wall and take a break. They chatted for a bit while their eyes scanned the rather interesting sights that the gym had to offer. Oikawa had decided that today would be a free practice, so the players broke off into groups to work on what they felt they needed to, which was anything but what they were actually doing. Kunimi and Kindaichi were sitting on the ground, rolling the volleyball back and forth and talking. Yahaba and Kyotani were within a three inch radius of each other, the former yelling and accusing the latter of missing his sets on purpose. Iwaizumi could have sworn he saw Kyotani bite Yahaba’s hand at one point, but he quickly averted his eyes, not wanting to have to intervene. Watari was trying his best to do just that, but his pleas were falling on deaf, and very angry, ears. Scanning his eyes to the other side of the gym, Iwaizumi saw Mattsun laying face-down on the ground yelling out for the “sweet release of death” as Oikawa became increasingly flustered at being ignored.

 _This is my team,_ Iwaizumi thought as he shook his head, a small smile dusting his lips. He turned to Makki, who was pointing at Mattsun and laughing his ass off.

“Hey Makki, can I ask you a question?”

“For the right price,” Makki waggled his eyebrows.

“No, can I ask you like…a serious question?”

Makki’s grin fell slightly and he took on a more serious look. “Yeah, what’s on your mind, buddy?”

“Are-are you and Mattsun together?”

The other just chuckled. “Ya know, I wonder that every day to be honest. Like we’re bros. We’re best bros. Bros for life some may say. But like, we’re also bros who make out and hold hands and do stuff together.”

“So you’re together…but not together?” Iwaizumi asked with a confused look on his face.

“Yup, pretty much.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“For the most part, yeah. Sometimes I wish we would make it official, but I love him and I know that he loves me and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.”

Iwaizumi hummed in response, turning his head to look at Oikawa, who had resorted to sitting on the ground next to Mattsun and bouncing the volleyball on the other’s head. _What a dork._

“I was going to ask why you were so interested in my love life all of a sudden, but I’m gonna make an educated guess here that it has something to do with that asshole?” Makki pointed his thumb over at the setter.

“W-well…” Iwaizumi trailed off, unsure of how he should respond.

“Hey, you can talk to me,” Makki elbowed him in the side, “I know that I can be a bit of a shit sometimes,” Iwa let out a laugh, “okay maybe most of the time, but I do care about you as a friend, ya know? So what changed?”

“I just-I don’t even know. Like we’ve been friends forever, right? Ever since we were kids I’ve always felt drawn to him. I know that I make fun of him but he makes me feel…warm? And safe, like I don’t ever have to worry about anything when I’m with him. He’s just always been there for me, in more ways than you can even imagine, and I always thought that I was drawn to him _because_ he’s my best friend. But like, what if it’s more than that? A couple of weeks ago, I had a dream that we were all at a New Year’s Eve party and I kissed him, and then last night I almost did for real! Oh and don’t even get me started on this morning’s dream. He just looked _so_ good and his hands were…never mind that.” Iwaizumi shook his head quickly. “I’m just starting to notice little things that I hadn’t before and it’s kind of starting to freak me out. Like how soft his hair is, and the way that the sides of his eyes crinkle when he smiles, and the deeper tone that he takes on when it’s just the two of us, and the way that his-”

“Iwa,” Makki cut him off mid-sentence, “please, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, stop talking. You’re starting to ramble.”

Iwaizumi just stared at his friend, stunned for a moment, before speaking again. “Excuse me?”

Makki laughed loudly and clapped the other on the shoulder. “What I mean is that you’re rambling, and if you keep going like that you’re never going to stop.”

“Sorry…”

“Don’t be. You said that you’re unsure about your feelings and that everything is starting to freak you out, but if you ask me, which you did, it sounds like you already know everything that you need to,” Makki offered the other a smile before standing up. “Now I’m going to go over and save Mattsun and if I know Oikawa, which I do all too well,” he cringed, “he’ll be coming over to see _Iwa-chan_ within the next minute and a half. I’m not saying that you have to talk about any of this with him just yet, but do with that what you will.”

Hanamaki ran over to the other side of the gym to “save” Matsukawa, who instantly hopped up from his position on the floor and threw his arms around the other rather dramatically, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Iwaizumi couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy at the sight.

Oikawa turned to Mattsun and harrumphed. “Why couldn’t you get up for _me_?”

“Sorry man, you just don’t do it for me like Makki does,” the other smirked.

“Oh shut up, you know what I mean.” Oikawa turned on his heel with a scowl on his face. He lit up, however, when right on cue:

_“Oh, Iwa-chan!”_

Things were pretty much normal for the next two weeks, seeing as though the new “normal” for Iwaizumi was filled with time dreaming about Oikawa, talking about Oikawa, being with Oikawa, and simply just pining after Oikawa. They had always been close, but this was on a completely different level that he didn’t think he necessarily minded. He just longed to be near him, drawn in by the powerful magnetic force that was Oikawa Tooru, captain and setter of the Aoba Johsai Volleyball Team.

In the span of two weeks there had been four after-school coffee outings with Makki and Mattsun where the former drilled holes into Iwaizumi’s head the entire time with suggestive glances and smirks, three sleepovers that included cheesy movies and lots of popcorn and snuggling, two dreams that jolted Iwaizumi awake in a cold sweat in the early hours of the morning, and one near-kiss when the two had been baking brownies to surprise and congratulate Iwa’s mother on her promotion at work. What had started as following a simple recipe on the back of the brownie-mix box quickly evolved into a food fight that resulted with flour on the floor, eggs on the wall, and batter on both of their faces.

_“You have brownie batter on your face, Loserkawa.”_

_“Wanna come have a taste?”_

Iwaizumi had barely made it out of that night alive.

But now it was the week of Christmas and Oikawa had demanded that the team hold a party to celebrate the holidays together before going their separate ways until after the New Year. When school resumed in a couple of weeks, the team would be putting in more hours and doing more intense training in preparation for the upcoming prelims.

“Do we have to?” Yahaba had asked after practice a few days prior to the party. “Can’t we just like, say ‘Merry Christmas,’ and leave?”

Oikawa took in a sharp breath, a look on his face that would have been akin to if Yahaba had just kicked a child. “Absolutely not! _We_ are all going to be holly jolly and _you_ are all going to like it. I will force you to have fun you bunch of fun-suckers.”

“Wow, really great insult,” Kunimi muttered under his breath and Kindaichi snickered at his side.

“Yeeeeeah, count me out,” Kyotani frowned, “the less time I have to spend with you people the better.”

Oikawa turned to Iwaizumi with pleading eyes, “Iwa-chan, help me out here!”

The vice-captain sighed before turning to face the team. “Please, guys?”

There was a long pause before Mattsun spoke up. “Well, all you had to do was ask.”

“I did!” Oikawa yelled.

“That wasn’t directed at you _captain,_ ” Makki laughed.

And so the team found themselves sitting in a circle in the middle of the gym being “forced to have fun” and exchanging presents. Watari had taken the time to paint ornaments for everyone in the mint and white team colors, complete with their numbers on the front. Yahaba handed out coupons for “one free sarcastic comment” each. Kindaichi had baked cookies with his grandmother the weekend prior and she’d insisted that he “bring them in for all of his lovely friends.” They were actually quite tasty. There were blank stares all around as Kyotani handed out silverware, claiming that everyone “should be thankful to be getting anything at all.” Makki and Mattsun had gone together to get the team some…rather interesting posters for the changing room. Oikawa shook his head, knowing that they would most definitely not be allowed, but that resistance against the two of them was futile.

When it got to Kunimi, he stood up and handed out pairs of fuzzy socks to everyone before turning to Makki and Mattsun. “And for you two,” he held out a beautifully wrapped gift addressed to the two of them.

“Oh my _god,_ has our son finally come around to us,” Hanamaki wiped away a tear.

“It’s almost too pretty to unwrap,” Matsukawa held his hand over his heart.

They gingerly ripped into the paper, revealing a box and on the inside, a single shirt that read _World’s Greatest Father._

“Fight over it,” Kunimi sat back down and turned on his phone to resume scrolling or whatever he had been doing.

Iwaizumi ended up having to rip the two of them apart, promising to create a “shirt schedule” for them to share. Once they had calmed down, he turned to the rest of the team and smiled before handing each of them a scarf that had been embroidered with the words “Aoba Johsai Volleyball.” Though they would never admit it, there were more than a few tears shed at the heartfelt gift.

Oikawa stood up. “Okay, I guess it’s my turn!” He had written each of them a letter expressing how proud he was of the team and telling them how much each and every one of them meant to him. Inside the cards were gift cards for the local ramen shop down the street. “And I’ll be giving Iwa-chan’s his later,” he winked at him as he sat back down.

Iwaizumi’s face instantly burned, a sharp contrast to the chilly December air creeping in from under the gym doors. The rest of the team stared with wide eyes and open mouths, unsure if they had heard him correctly.

“Umm, gross?” Yahaba spoke up first.

“What do you mean?” Oikawa was genuinely confused.

Kindaichi covered his mouth and spoke next, “think about what you just said, man.”

“I just said that I was going to be giving Iwa-OH! Oh, no that’s not what I meant!” he waved his hands out in front of himself frantically. “I really did just mean that I’m going to be giving him his gift later!”

“Oh, we’re sure you will be,” Makki chuckled suggestively.

Iwaizumi buried his face in his hands. _Please, God, take me now. I’ve lived a good life, but I think it’s time._

Once the team had gotten in as many jabs as they possibly could at the duo, Oikawa shooed them away and told them to “go be merry somewhere else.” Once they had dispersed to get hot chocolate or pick a fight or whatever, he grabbed Iwa’s arm, a very toned arm at that he would like to note, and pulled him to a corner of the gym away from the others.

“Okay, so I know that it’s not _exactly_ Christmas yet,” Oikawa pulled a present out from behind the bleachers, “but I wanted to give this to you now since you won’t be here on Christmas day.” Iwaizumi was actually leaving the next day with his mother to visit his grandparents in Tokyo for the holiday and wouldn’t be coming back until New Year’s Eve.

_Holy fucking shit, Hajime you piece of garbage, you forgot to get him a present! Like, yeah the scarf and all but something else. Something special. Okay, think of something quick. It got lost in the mail? Yeah, that’s believable enough I suppose._

“Oikawa, I-”

“Nope! Not a word until you open your present.”

“But-”

“No.”

“Oikawa.”

_“Iwaizumi.”_

“Fine.”

Oikawa smiled wide, ironically, like a kid on Christmas morning as he shoved the present into the open hands in front of him.

Iwaizumi carefully removed the paper and what he saw when it gave way to the present nearly brought him to tears. In his hands now was a snow globe in the shape of a volleyball with a picture of the two of them as children on the inside, smiles as wide and as bright as the sun. It was the day that they had both decided to join the volleyball club in elementary school, a time that Iwa always thought back on with fond memories. He shook it a few times and watched as the glitter in the globe flew to the top and slowly descended to the bottom, cascading over the smiling faces of the boys inside. They were carefree and happy.

A tear escaped down the side of Iwaizumi’s face, but Oikawa’s hand was there just as quick to wipe it away, lingering in place as they locked eyes.

“Tooru, this is- this is beautiful. Thank you so much,” Iwaizumi whispered out as he pulled his best friend into a tight hug.

Oikawa rubbed his back as they embraced, “a beautiful gift for a beautiful person,” he whispered back.

The pair was so entranced with each other and the emotions being expressed in that single hug, that they hadn’t even noticed that the rest of the team was now sitting on the bleachers watching them intently. Hanamaki was making binoculars with his hands and Yahaba was passing out snacks as they settled in to watch the spectacle.

“What is this!?” Oikawa yelped when they broke apart.

“We just came to watch the show,” Matsukawa explained as he leaned back, hands behind his head. “We scored some pretty sweet seats. Very limited quantity. Great view of the action. 10 out of 10 would recommend.”

Oikawa was speechless for a moment before he shook his head and rubbed his temples, “look at us,” he gestured with his hands to include the entire team, “is this who we are now? Is this what we represent?”

“Uhh, yeah, pretty much,” Watari spoke up from the back. “Where have you been? Do you even know us?”

The gym filled with laughter as Iwaizumi smiled. _I love it here._

Christmas had been pretty uneventful for Iwaizumi. He and his mother had driven to Tokyo the day after school let out and stayed for a week and a half before making the trek back to Miyagi. The trip was nice, but he was anxious to return home, practically counting down the days. It’s not that he hadn’t wanted to see his grandparents, he loved them to death, but there was someone else who was taking up a solid 75 percent of the space in his brain the entire time. A someone with the softest hair imaginable and eyes that sparkled when he spoke and who gave Iwaizumi butterflies in his stomach, though he’d insisted to Makki that they were more like moths because “moths are obviously cooler.”

After being fed his weight and a half in homemade sweets by his grandmother and receiving an earful from his grandfather about how they don’t come visit nearly enough and promising that they would be back soon, he found himself riding back home in the car on New Year’s Eve with his mother while some pop song played quietly on the radio. He stared down at the “typing” bubbles signifying that a text would be coming through.

**Shittykawa: Okay but you don’t understand, it was awful! I almost died!!!**

**Shittykawa: Like, deceased.**

**Shittykawa: In an early grave.**

**Shittykawa: I could’ve been a ghost haunting you right now.**

**Iwa-chan <3: That’s a terrifying thought. Also, I’m sure it couldn’t have been that bad, don’t be so dramatic.**

Iwaizumi hadn’t been prepared for the essay that came through the phone next.

**Shittykawa: Well let’s see shall we. *puts on reading glasses* My Christmas morning started when Takeru snuck into my bathroom and decided to mix all of my expensive hair products together to make a “potion” or some shit like that. Then my sister decided that the perfect present for me would be a single pair of underwear...with her face on it. -_- My brother-in-law took me aside later in the day and tried to give me relationship advice because “I know that you’re lonely, we’ve all been there buddy.” Then, at dinner my mother decided to give a dramatic retelling of my LITERAL CONCEPTION, and to top it all off, dad accidentally bumped into the tree and it _fell on me._ Let me reiterate that for you. The tree. Fell. On. Top. Of. Me. And everyone just laughed. Dad just shrugged and said “oops, my bad.” Like, yes, very much your bad, father! I’m pretty sure I’m still picking pine needles out of my hair…**

Iwaizumi had to read through the message a few times to fully take it in before shaking his head and chuckling with a smile on his face. His mother shot him a look, one eyebrow raised. “What was that for?”

**Iwa-chan <3: Ya know, and I don’t say this very often, but I stand corrected…are you sure you aren’t actually dead? **

**Shittykawa: I’m not so sure, to be honest. Wanna check when you get back?** **;)**

The tips of his ears burned a bit at that last sentence. “Oh, nothing, just texting Oikawa. Apparently while we were gone he ‘ _almost died_ ,’” Iwaizumi put a dramatic amount of emphasis on the last two words in an attempt to mimic his best friend. When he didn’t respond back for a few minutes, he received another message.

**Shittykawa: Anyhoooo…got any plans for tonight?**

**Iwa-chan <3: Umm, sleeping?**

**Shittykawa: Excuse me!?!?**

**Iwa-chan <3: I’ve been in a car all day?**

**Shittykawa: But Iwa-chaaaaaaan. It’s New Year’s Eve!! You can’t just stay home!**

**Shittykawa: That’s it, I’ve decided for you. You’re coming with me and the asshole twins to a party.**

**Iwa-chan <3: Do I have a choice?**

**Shittykawa: Nope! Take a quick nap when you get home so you’re not grumpy all night and just swing by my place later!**

**Shittykawa: How’s 7 work?**

**Iwa-chan <3: Yeah, I’ll be there. **

**Shittykawa: WHOO!! See you then! Love ya! <3**

**Iwa-chan <3: -_-**

Iwaizumi stared longingly at his phone. “I love you too,” he whispered under his breath so that his mother wouldn’t hear.

“So what were you talking about?” she asked when he put his phone back in his pocket. 

“Just some stuff about the team and the prelims coming up.” He wasn’t _technically_ lying, as the conversation had initially started with Iwa asking for input on a new training regimen he wanted to implement for the next few upcoming practices. The team would hate it and complain the entire time, but, to be frank, he really could not care less. “He also asked if I wanted to go to a party tonight with him to ring in the New Year and I told him I would. Oh, and Hanamaki and Matsukawa will also be there.”

“Hmm, a party, is that so?”

Iwaizumi was unable to read the expression on her face, wondering what she could possibly be thinking about, when it dawned on him that if he went to the party, she would be left all alone that evening. “Oh, mom, I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first if you minded. I can text him back right now and tell him never mind, that I’m gonna spend it with y-”

“Would you cut the crap, already?” she deadpanned, eyes never leaving the road.

He blinked at her a few times. Surely he couldn’t have heard her correctly just then, right? “W-what crap? What are you talking about? I already told you I don’t have to go.” The uncharacteristic silence was making him nervous and he fidgeted with his hands in his lap.

She sighed dramatically, second only to Oikawa. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know?”

“I still don’t understand what you-”

“I see how you look at him now.”

Oh. _Oh._ Panic started to set in as he stared ahead with wide eyes, unwilling to look in her direction. _Oh god, oh god, oh god. How did she find out!? I mean, I suppose I haven’t necessarily been the most discreet here of late but still! I never even told her that I’m into guys, or rather…guy? What if she thinks I’m weird? What if she hates me? What if she wants me to leave? What if-_

“Hajime, I can practically see the steam coming out of your ears from you overthinking,” she pinched his ear, “so stop it. And to calm your nerves, no I do not think that you are weird, nor do I hate you, and no, I am not kicking you out.”

He was in shock. “H-how did you know that-”

“I’m your mother. I know you better than you know yourself,” she stated very matter-of-fact. “This includes the fact that you’re in love with Tooru.”

His mouth went completely dry and he looked down. “How-how long have you known?”

“You remember the night that he came over and you had your little pillow fight?”

“Oh god, that long!?” his head jolted back up and he finally turned to look at her. She was wearing a soft smile that brought his heart rate back down a bit. “I-I think I do, ya know? Love him, I mean.”

“I know,” she placed a hand over his. The simple gesture was comforting and full of nothing but love, and any doubt in his mind that she would be against it completely melted away. “Have you told him how you feel?”

Tears started to form in the corners of Iwaizumi’s eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his hand but they didn’t seem to want to stop, fighting against him until they were freely flowing down his face and onto his jeans. “No,” he choked out through a sob and the tears became steady streams. “I ca-can’t lose h-him, mom! What i-if he doesn’t-t feel the same and de-decides he can’t b-be my friend any-anymore?” he looked at his mother frantically, fear more than apparent behind his eyes.

She pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to face him, wrapping her son into a gentle hug that gave him space to breathe, but that was filled with an overwhelming warmth, rubbing his back as he clung onto her and sobbed into her shoulder. They stayed that way for another five minutes before Iwaizumi felt safe enough to pull away, eyes drained and cheeks flush.

“If there’s one thing I’m certain of,” she spoke softly, rubbing a hand up and down his arm, “it’s that Tooru would never leave you. You’ve both lived so much life together and it’s very apparent just how much love you have, and have always had, for each other. At the end of the day, you know that he will always be in your corner.” The look on her face grew more serious as she continued, “But, son, I can see this eating away at you. I would never try to force you to do anything, but I think you need to tell him how you feel.” Iwaizumi stiffened. “And even if he doesn’t feel the same way, which I would say is rather unlikely to be honest, I feel as though I can honestly say that not much would even change. You’ll always be best friends; you have a bond closer than some married couples I know,” she chuckled and Iwaizumi finally smiled.

“Thanks, mom,” he said, wiping away the last of the remaining tears, “I love you so much.”

“I love you more.”

“Not possible,” he said with a pout and they both laughed. “I think-I think I’m going to tell him how I feel tonight. That is, if I can still go to the party…” he trailed off with a slight smirk.

She turned back around in her seat and put the car in drive once again, steering them back onto the road. “I wouldn’t dream of you missing it. Now, let’s get back home, shall we? You might wanna shower before you leave. You smell kind of musty from the car ride and, correct me if I’m wrong, but musty doesn’t quite scream _romance._ ”

_“MOM!”_

The car was filled with laughter as they drove back home, radio now turned up full blast to cover up the terrible singing coming from the pair.

 _I can do this._ Iwaizumi bit the inside of his cheek. _I have to do this._

_I can’t do this._

Iwaizumi was standing in front of his mirror finding every flaw that he possibly could. In his outfit choice, even though he’d cycled through six other ones before settling on this one. With his hair that was sticking out in every-which-way and refused to stay down no matter how much gel he had already used. With his smile that was “too uneven” for his liking. With the way that his eyes, though a beautiful olive green, he believed were too dull in comparison to Oikawa’s. _What could he ever see in me? I’ll never be good enough for him. He’s so perfect and I’m so…me._

His spiraling was cut short as the voice of his mother rang out in the hallway, growing closer. “Alright, Hajime, it’s ten til’ seven, you should probably start heading over if you want to get there on time!” she knocked on the door before strolling into his room. “Oh, you look so handsome!” she clasped her hands over her heart. “I just know that tonight is going to go well. And don’t forget that I need a full report when you get home and, no I don’t care what time it is. Trust me, I’ll be awake,” she smirked and ushered him out of his room, not giving him another chance to pick apart his appearance.

 _Whelp, I guess there’s no going back now._ And so Iwaizumi found himself walking over to Oikawa’s house in the freezing cold, though if his body was reacting to the lower temperature, he wasn’t able to tell. His heart was burning in desire and anticipation, warming him from the inside out. The moths in his stomach seemed to be working overtime tonight. The ten-minute walk seemed like an eternity as he played and replayed and replayed again every possible way that this night could go in his head. He figured that there were five most probable possibilities. Best case scenario, he confessed to Oikawa and his feelings were reciprocated. Worst case scenario, the confession ended in a permanently-ruined friendship. Iwaizumi shuddered in fear at that possibility. Another was that he ultimately chickened out and continued to live his life of being a full-time-pining-simp from afar. Another was that he confessed and Oikawa didn’t feel the same, but their friendship remained intact. The last one that he thought of was that they would be at the party when Godzilla attacked and killed them all before he was given the chance to even confess, though he figured that this was the least probable, but not completely impossible. He was hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door to Oikawa’s house, unable to bring himself to knock and an intense feeling of déjà vu washed over him. _Okay, Hajime, it’s now or never. Just knock on the door. You know how to do that, just one simple action…c’mon man, not this again!_ He gulped hard before bringing his hand up to knock on the door, but just as he was about to do so, the door swung open and his eyes were blinded by the most stunning sight he had ever seen. He was sure that he would simply just die if he didn’t look away, but he couldn’t force himself to do so.

The source of the light was Oikawa, himself. It appeared that he had recently taken a shower, as his hair was wet and pushed behind his ears, with his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He had on a button-up shirt that was very much not buttoned up, his chest and torso on full display and looking delicious. The brown pants that he had on were hugging his ass, or lack thereof, perfectly and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but stare. He looked like a piece of heaven that had fallen to earth. He was thankful that Oikawa spoke first, because he sure as hell was not going to be able to.

“Iwa-chan! Seven on the dot, hmm? How very punctual of you,” he teased. Iwaizumi blinked in response. “Well, I was just finishing up getting ready, sorry for putting us a bit behind schedule,” he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ta-take your time,” Iwaizumi’s voice had finally caught up to the rest of him.

“Well I can’t just have you standing in the doorway awkwardly; come in!” then adding in a lower, more seductive tone, “follow me to the bedroom,” but he was laughing loudly a couple of seconds later.

When Iwaizumi had entered the room and sat down on the bed, legs pressed tightly together, Oikawa allowed himself a moment to scan his friend from top to bottom.

“You clean up pretty well, Iwa-chan,” he said with a wink. “It’s nice to see you in something other than a uniform or those Adidas sweats you refuse to let me replace. And is that cologne I smell? Going all out tonight, are we?”

Iwaizumi still had not spoken, focusing hard on keeping his heart rate and other things down.

Oikawa noted the way that the fresh smell of balsam was wafting off of his friend and blissfully into his nostrils, closing his eyes as he took in the scent. It paired well with his outfit for the night, choosing to go with a pair of black skinny jeans and a maroon colored long-sleeved Henley tee rolled up to the middle of his forearms. The tight-fit accentuated each and every sculpted muscle on his upper body. “Well then,” Oikawa spoke sweetly once he had gotten his fill of the sight, “I’ll just have to try to look just as good, won’t I?”

He ended up settling on the brown pants with a white button-up, now buttoned the entire way to Iwaizumi’s relief, and a navy blue blazer to tie the ensemble together. He turned to his mirror and searched for his contacts, muttering to himself “this is my least favorite part.”

“Why don’t you just leave them? The-the glasses, I mean.” 

“Wait, really? Why?”

Iwaizumi looked away, a light dusting of pink adorning his cheeks “I dunno they’re…kinda cute.”

“O-oh,” Oikawa blushed in response, “t-thanks. I think I’ll just leave them then.” He turned to his friend and grinned. “Now let’s go par-taaaay!”

“Never say that again. I will not hesitate to leave your ass there.”

Oikawa harrumphed, folding his arms over his chest, “Iwa-chan you’re so mean to me!”

“Oh, shut up, you know I’m just kidding,” Iwaizumi folded his arms to mimic the other.

Oikawa got close to his friend’s ear as he sauntered out of the room, voice just above a whisper. “Trust me, I’m well aware. As much as I’d love to stay here with just you we shouldn’t keep the other two waiting.”

The duo left Oikawa’s house and headed to the train station to meet up with Makki and Mattsun , who seemed to be invested in some deep conversation.

“…I was _just saying_ that, in a hypothetical situation, if it came down to you and a cream puff, I would probably choose the cream puff and I feel like that’s a pretty reasonable response, Mattsun.”

“So you would choose food over me?”

“Uh, yep.”

“Seriously? A singular cream puff over your very best friend and the love of your life.”

“That’s literally what I just said.”

“Hmmm. Can’t say I blame you really, I would sell you out for a cheeseburger any day.”

“Awww, I love you too!”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi cautiously approached the two, unsure if they should notify them of their arrival. After a minute or two, Iwa cleared his throat, “So, umm, sorry to break up this very…touching moment, but are you guys ready to go?”

Mattsun looked up from his seat and narrowed his eyes at the newest arrivals. “Oh how nice of you two to finally grace us with your presence, you’re only,” he looked down at his wrist, though it contained no watch, “like thirty minutes late, assholes.”

Oikawa waved him off, “oh you’ll be fine, we just got a bit caught up at my house.”

“Ohoho, I’m sure you did,” Makki winked very not-so-discreetly.

“Are we going to this party or not, because I would be completely content turning around right now and going home,” Iwaizumi deadpanned.

“Iwa-chaaaaan.”

Mattsun clenched a fist over his heart, feigning hurt, “you mean you don’t want the first thing you see in the New Year to be the faces of three…of two angels?”

“Preferably not.”

“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear any of this conversation,” Oikawa pouted, “now let’s go before we actually miss our train.” He ushered the three onto the platform before anything else happened that could potentially keep one or all of them from leaving, and, once inside, they took their seats.

Oikawa sat close to Iwaizumi, and the points at which their bodies were connected at the knees and shoulders and the occasional brush of the hand, sent little bolts of lightning through the latter of the two. The moths were making their presence known and he felt as though he was going to be sick, but in a good way.

“So you never told me, where exactly is this party that we’re going to?” Iwaizumi asked, realizing that he was completely unawarre of their destination.

“You won’t believe me,” Oikawa turned to look at him with a smirk.

“Why would I have any reason to not believe you?”

“Because it’s at Kunimi’s house.”

“ _Shut up._ ” Iwaizumi wore a look of disbelief on his face. “Okay, yeah, you’re right I don’t believe you.”

“It’s true though!”

Mattsun leaned over, evidently having been eavesdropping on their conversation the entire time, “oh it’s true, alright.”

Iwaizumi shook his head. “Oh my god, why do I feel like you two had something to do with this?”

Makki leaned in next, “first of all, ouch. But second of all, yeah we found out that his _other parents_ weren’t going to be home for a few days before and after the New Year, so we decided to invite some people over.”

“And he let you?”

“He doesn’t exactly know,” Mattsun laughed.

“Well actually I’d say he found out about,” Makki checked his phone, “twenty-five minutes ago.” He held up the screen to display that there were eighteen missed calls and thirty-two texts all from the same contact: **Volleyball Son.**

Iwaizumi sighed, knowing that there was a very strong possibility that neither Hanamaki nor Matsukawa would be leaving the Kunimi household alive. When he came back to himself, he noticed that something felt new but not unwelcome, looking down to see that Oikawa had, at some point, started mindlessly tracing circles onto the back of Iwaizumi’s hand with his slender fingers.

“Oh,” he breathed out. _Shit, did I just say that out loud?_

“Oh, sorry, Iwa-chan, I didn’t even notice,” Oikawa laughed nervously as he pulled his hand back into his lap. _No, please don’t stop._

“I-it’s fine.” Iwaizumi swallowed hard. _Alright, Hajime, it’s now or never. It’s time to man up and tell him how you feel. Mom was right, you’ve got this._ He turned to make direct eye-contact with his best friend. “Oikawa, can. Can I tell you something?”

“You know you can tell me anything,” he placed his hand on the other’s shoulder gently, “is everything alright?”

 _Oh, other than the fact that I’m terrified because I’m about to completely spill the entire contents of my heart in this train and may or may not be rejected? Just peachy._ “Yeah, everything is okay.” The other was noticeably relieved. Iwaizumi placed his hand over Oikawa’s and set his gaze. It was clear that he had the setter’s full attention. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately. Well, by lately I mean the last two months. Month and a half? Well, maybe longer and I just hadn’t noticed until now. I don’t know, but that’s not important,” he shook his head in an attempt to come back to his senses. Makki was right, he did tend to ramble. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and I-I think that I might…maybe…possibly…perhaps…”

He was cut off as a crackling voice blared out over the intercom in the train: “Attention all passengers, we are now approaching our platform and ask that you kindly remember to grab everything on your way out and have a happy New Year.”

_You…you have to be kidding me._

“Iwa-chan?” Oikawa was still staring at him intently, never once breaking eye contact.

Iwaizumi was about to continue when Makki and Mattsun suddenly stood in front of them, physically hoisting them out of their seats, and ushered them out of the train.

“Come on, lovebirds!” Makki shouted behind him as the pair broke into a sprint, “we have a party to show up fashionably late to!”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa started to lightly jog next to each other so that they could still speak. “So, did you want to finish what you were saying earlier? We can stop if you want and talk for a bit before we get there?”

Iwaizumi’s hands grew clammy and he knew that, at least for the time being, he had lost his nerve. “Oh, no, that’s okay. We should probably catch up to those two idiots and make sure they don’t accidentally set anything on fire on the way there.”

Oikawa stopped jogging suddenly, causing Iwaizumi to have to backtrack a few steps. “Hajime.”

“Tooru?”

Oikawa fidgeted with his hands for a moment before putting on a forced smile and speaking again. “Never mind. You’re right, we should probably get there,” there was a tinge of sadness behind the smile, “I’m sure if you want me to know, you’ll tell me whatever it is when you’re ready.” He gave Iwaizumi’s shoulder a squeeze before running to catch up with the other two.

_What the hell is happening? This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go._

When they finally got to Kunimi’s house, Oikawa reached to knock on the door but it swung open before his hand could even make contact.

 _“You.”_ Kunimi was pissed. He turned to Hanamaki and Matsukawa with an accusatory finger in each of their faces. “What. _The actual fuck._ Did you do?”

Mattsun picked the first year up and swung him over his shoulder as he walked into the house and Makki explained “we heard you weren’t going to be going anywhere, so we decided to bring the fun to you!” The three of them disappeared into the crowd, two laughing and one yelling profanities at the others as they went.

Oikawa was stunned at the sight that he had just witnessed. “Do-do you think we should go after them?”

Suddenly, Kindaichi ran into view, frantically searching for something, and then ran in the direction that the three had just disappeared, waving his hands above his head in an attempt to flag someone down.

Iwaizumi was just as surprised. “I-I think they’ll be fine?” It came out more as a question than a statement.

The two locked eyes, still standing outside of the house, and began laughing hysterically, clutching their sides and wheezing in the cold air. Iwaizumi shivered once they had settled down and Oikawa’s eyes grew wide.

“Here,” he took off his blazer and handed it to Iwaizumi, “you look pretty chilly. I know that it might be a bit snug, but just take it okay? I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if you got sick or something.”

“Oikawa, you don’t have to-”

“Nope, not another word,” Oikawa stepped over the threshold and offered his hand, “now let’s go have some fun.”

Iwaizumi put on the blazer, it was a bit fitted around his arms and shoulders, but it smelled like Oikawa so he literally could not care any less, and a wide grin broke out on his face as he grabbed the hand in front of him. He allowed himself to be pulled inside, the warmth of dozens, maybe even a hundred or so, bodies suddenly rushing on all sides of him, and yet he could only bring himself to notice one.

It was exhilarating; the feeling of one’s senses simultaneously being heightened and dulled. Of hearing a multitude of voices and yet only recognizing one. Of feeling bodies rushing past and bumping into him while the only one resonating was the hand in his. The smell of cheap cologne and perfume swirled in the room, but all that mattered was the familiar scent of Oikawa on his blazer. The taste of salty snacks and sweet drinks enjoyed throughout the night was masked by the perspiration that found its way to his upper lip as they danced and sang off-key. He would have normally been overwhelmed by the sights around him, but the only thing that he truly saw was Oikawa Tooru, his best friend, standing right in front of him and smiling as bright as the sun.

Iwaizumi reached a hand up and placed it on Oikawa’s cheek, the latter leaning into the warmth from the soft touch. _It’s time._

“So about what I was saying earlier,” he started but was quickly interrupted by the roar coming from the television announcing that the countdown to the New Year was about to begin. Oikawa pointed to his ear and shook his head, signifying that he could no longer hear him over the noise.

 _Fuck this._ Iwaizumi grabbed the other tightly by the hand as he navigated through the room and pushed out onto the patio around the back of the house. They found that the only other people crazy enough to be outside in the chilly air were Hanamaki and Matsukawa, who were sitting a few feet away on a bench. The strawberry blonde had his head on the other’s shoulder as the brunette, in return, had his arm slung around him and was running a hand up and down the side of his torso. When they noticed that they were no longer alone, the affection died slightly, but upon seeing that the new arrivals were their friends, they perked up and ran over to greet them.

“It’s almost time!” Makki nearly shouted, “Are you guys ready?”

Mattsun joined in, “yeah, sorry Iwa, looks like you’ll have to ring in the New Year seeing our beautiful faces after all,” he let out a chuckle.

All at once, the familiarity of the scene playing out in front of him hit Iwaizumi, nearly winding him.

_My dream…_

He was stood next to his three best friends and fellow third years just outside of a crowded room, listening to the television countdown the time, waiting to ring in the New Year. Just a few moments later, it began.

_Ten_

He didn’t know how he had gotten himself into this mess.

_Nine_

Why did he have to catch feeling for someone who was probably going to fly away someday?

_Eight_

He wasn’t good enough, not nearly worthy enough, to even call the man his best friend.

_Seven_

Let alone be in love with him.

_Six_

His anxieties told him that this was a bad idea, that it wasn’t too late to turn back.

_Five_

But despite all of this, the only thing that he could think about was kissing him.

_Four_

He knew that he was being selfish, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted this. He needed him.

_Three_

He reigned in his thoughts, suddenly forcing himself to turn his body, now fully facing his best friend. “Tooru…” the name silently fluttered off of his lips, but it was just enough to gain the other man’s attention.

_Two_

“Iwa-chan,” he smiled back, a playful grin pulling on his lips. Iwaizumi grasped the other’s hands and pulled him in, slowly, then all at once…

_One_

And this time he didn’t wake up. He placed his lips onto Oikawa’s gently, treating him as though he were made of glass. He was terrified that the other was going to fade away and that he would open his eyes and be in his bed, everything having been nothing but a dream once again. However, once he felt the soft lips moving against his, his senses came crashing down at full force and he deepened the kiss. _This is real._ One hand found itself entangled in Oikawa’s hair, while the other pulled him closer, resting on the small of his back. The kiss went on for a few more moments before Oikawa pulled away slightly. All at once, Iwaizumi let go of him and stepped back.

“I-I’m so sorry, I should have asked permission before just assuming that-”

But Oikawa quickly shut him up by bringing his head back down to meet the other’s lips once again, more forceful this time. “Please shut up,” he whispered into the kiss, “I just wanted to see your face. Don’t stop.” He ran his hands up Iwaizumi’s arms, stalling at his biceps and latching on.

This was all the encouragement that Iwaizumi needed and he pulled the other’s slender body tight up against his once more. He had never felt more connected to another person before. As their lips moved in sync, the action played a symphony of their lives together thus far, everything that had led them to this moment. From the first time that they met as children, to the intimate action of sharing their first kiss, Iwaizumi had always been Oikawa’s person, and Oikawa his. The passion that was flowing out of the both of them had been building up for years. “You’re so beautiful,” Iwaizumi whispered back as a tear escaped from his eye, traveling down his face and becoming lost in the kiss. Oikawa giggled and the laugh sent vibrations through both of their bodies, only prompting them to cling to each other more, afraid that if they let go, the other would fly away.

The kiss continued for a few more minutes before Iwaizumi pulled away, this time, to catch his breath. He looked at Oikawa, whose lips were swollen, cheeks were flushed, and hair was messy. Iwa was sure that he could not have looked much better himself, but all that he saw when he looked at the other was perfection.

“Well it’s about damn time!” Oikawa yelled as he placed his hands on his hips dramatically.

Iwaizumi was genuinely confused. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

“Oh I’ve only been pining after you for, like, ever.”

“Then why didn’t you ever say anything!?”

“I wanted you to have time to figure out your feelings and make the first move. I knew that if _I_ did, that it would have only scared you away.”

“Y-you don’t know that for sure!”

“Yes,” Oikawa took the other’s face in his hands and looked him dead in the eye, “yes I do.”

Iwaizumi was at a loss for words.

“Hmm, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t try to hurry you along, though,” Oikawa laughed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you think that me sending you flirty texts, and complementing your biceps all the time, and offering to give you a massage, which was very sensual, might I add, and giving you my blazer tonight, and literally every little thing that I did was just me being a good friend?”

“…yes?”

Oikawa laughed loudly, “you’re kind of dense, you know,” then placing a gentle kiss on Iwaizumi’s lips, “you’re lucky you’re cute.”

Iwaizumi blushed and Oikawa lifted a hand to caress his cheek.

They had been so immersed in each other that they both jumped at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them.

“I would just like to point out that we are still here,” Makki announced, “and that you are both very cute,” he turned to his counterpart with a devilish look in his eye, “and that you owe me thirty yen.”

Oikawa blinked at them in response. “Did you seriously place a bet on us?”

Mattsun grinned, “Well, mostly on Iwa. Makki bet that he would finally make his move tonight, but I bet that he would chicken out again. Guess I was wrong,” he shrugged before adding with a wink, “though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little happy that my boyfriend was right.”

The four shared a laugh before realization set in as to what Matsukawa had just implied.

“I’m sorry, your what!?” Oikawa squealed, “When the hell did this happen?”

“Uh, like, fifteen minutes ago?”

“Wait, was that what was happening when-”

Mattsun cut him off. “When you and Mr. Loverman here decided to ruin our beautiful moment by sucking face? Yeah. But I suppose it’s okay because I’m not sure how much longer I could’ve taken the sexual tension between the two of you being so obvious to everyone but each other.”

Makki chimed in, “Yeah, the whole team was kind of over it. We all had an emergency meeting and were seriously considering an intervention.”

Mattsun chuckled and slung his arm around Makki, pulling him in close. Iwaizumi was pretty sure he saw a blush spread out on the latter’s face, matching his hair, before nuzzling his face in the other’s neck to hide it.

Oikawa mirrored the action with Iwaizumi and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Well this is amazing news! Imagine the double dates we can go on now! We can go to really cute coffee shops, or the aquarium, or go see a musical, or picnic in the park, or-”

“They already left.” Oikawa had been so wrapped up in the new prospect of going on double dates with their friends that he hadn’t even noticed when the pair walked away, hand in hand, claiming that they were going to go find Kunimi and tell him the “wonderful news.”

“Oh,” Oikawa suddenly seemed much more nervous now that it was just he and Iwaizumi, “so I guess it’s just the two of us, huh?” He looked down at his shoes.

Iwaizumi grew nervous that the other was beginning to have regrets now that the initial high was starting to wear off. What he was not expecting, however, was for tears to begin freely falling down the other’s face when he looked back up. He embraced Oikawa instantly and without a second thought, rubbing one hand up and down his back as the other held him close. “Tooru, are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

Oikawa choked out a laugh through his tears and took a moment to compose himself before breaking the hug, choosing, instead, to take both of Iwaizumi’s hands in his. He never once broke eye contact as he spoke. “You haven’t done anything wrong. Actually, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t even if you tried. I’m just so happy; I didn’t think it was actually possible to feel so much happiness at one time, but you’ve definitely proven me wrong there. God, you always have to be right, don’t you?” Iwaizumi snorted. “I just feel like the happiest person literally ever whenever I’m with you and I guess the reality that you actually like me back is setting in and it’s just a bit overwhelming. Sorry if my being emotional is making you regret kissing me.” He reached up to wipe away the rest of his tears, but another hand was suddenly on his.

Iwaizumi brought the other’s hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “Please don’t ever apologize again. The only thing that I will ever regret when it comes to you is not realizing my own feelings earlier.”

Oikawa smiled. “When did you figure it out?”

“Well, about a month and a half ago I had a dream that-”

“Oh is that so? You were dreaming about me _Iwa-chan_?” Oikawa leaned down to Iwaizumi’s ear and spoke in a low voice, sending shivers through his body, “I’d love to know what kind of dream it was.” He nipped at Iwaizumi’s ear and the other let out a low growl in response.

“It was a dream where you and I were leaving this party and going back to your place like, right now.” Iwaizumi grabbed a laughing Oikawa by the forearm and yanked him around the house and back in the direction of the train station, not even caring that their friends were still inside.

It was nearly one thirty when the pair found themselves outside of Oikawa’s house, arms around shoulders, hands in hair, lips on lips, doing everything in their power to never once break contact. They were tired and breathless, but neither was willing to admit it; the only thing that they needed in this moment was each other.

“I still can’t believe that this is real life,” Iwaizumi breathed out and shook his head.

“Oh, believe it,” Oikawa returned as he pulled the other back into another passionate kiss, “Because now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go.”

They placed their foreheads together. “You better not, because I have no intention of leaving.”

Their lips danced for a moment longer before Oikawa pulled away suddenly with a horrified look on his face. “Oh my god, you’ve had me so fucking hypnotized with your mouth that I completely forgot to ask!”

Iwaizumi was at a loss for words. “Ask me what?”

“Well give me a minute so I can do it properly, you idiot!” The setter ducked out of the embrace and disappeared behind a bush.

_What the fuck is happening right now?_

When Oikawa reemerged, he had a lilac from the garden in his hand and offered it to the other. “Iwaizumi Hajime. Will you please do me the honor of officially being my boyfriend?”

 _Oh my god, that’s what he wanted to ask me? He’s so cute._ “Do I even need to tell you? I’m pretty sure you already know what my answer is.”

“Nope, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing is official unless you say yes,” Oikawa pouted as he crossed his arms.

Iwaizumi feigned annoyance with a sigh, but was betrayed by the smile pulling at his lips. “Yes, Tooru, I would love literally nothing more than to be your boyfriend.”

Oikawa smiled wider than Iwaizumi had ever seen him before and pulled his (now) boyfriend into a bone-crushing hug. Eventually, the heat radiating off of their bodies was no longer enough to keep them warm as the chilly January air set in. When they pulled apart, they were both shivering and Oikawa was wearing a deep pink, high on both of his cheeks.

Iwaizumi was worried that perhaps he was getting sick being out in the cold for so long, and he reached his hand up to feel the other’s forehead. “Hey are you feeling okay? Your face looks a bit flush, but you don’t feel like you have a fever.”

“Oh, umm, is that so?” Oikawa asked with a nervous laugh, “no, I-I’m feeling fine.”

Iwaizumi crossed his arms. “Alright, what’s going on, because you were fine just a minute ago and now you have that uneasy tone to your voice that means you’re nervous about something?”

“I was just thinking that it’s getting pretty late…”

“Yeah, it is.”

“And, umm, I was just wondering…” he paused.

“You were just wondering?”

Oikawa gulped hard, “I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to come in? And-and sleep over…as my boyfriend.”

Iwaizumi was confused as to why Oikawa would have been so nervous to ask him to sleep over. They’d been spending the night at each other’s houses for as long as he could remember. And why had he asked like that? As his boyfriend… _oh…_ all at once, realization set in and his cheeks flushed just as loudly. He wanted to. He really, really wanted to, and he would have said yes if not for the fact that his mother was currently waiting up for him to come home, expecting a full report about his night.

“I want to...” Iwaizumi started.

“I want you to,” Oikawa traced the other’s collarbone.

“But-”

“Oh,” Oikawa’s face and hand fell, “I-I get it! Things are different now and I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything or make you feel pressured to-”

Iwaizumi cut him off with a kiss. “You didn’t let me finish, dumbass. What I was trying to say was that I would love to, but mom is kind of waiting up for me to get home and tell her how things went tonight...with you.”

“Can’t you just, like, text her and tell her you’re spending the night?”

“You and I both know damn well that it doesn’t matter how late it is, she will come over here and physically drag my ass home.”

Oikawa snorted, remembering times when they were younger and Iwaizumi had refused to go home. His mother would walk right into the room, pick him up, and leave without a word. He had to take some deep breaths to calm his laughing, remembering that they were, in fact, still outside and the last thing he wanted to do was wake up his neighbors. “Well, fine. I guess I’ll let you go just this once. But you’re coming over tomorrow!”

Iwaizumi smiled, “You should have known I was already planning to.” He gave his boyfriend one final kiss for the night before turning away so that he could begin his ten-minute walk home that would probably feel more like an hour in the cold.

Oikawa stood in his doorway, watching Iwaizumi leave until he could no longer see him before finally entering into the warmth of his house. He leaned against the door and put his face in his hands, light tears running into the smile that he was wearing proudly. This was a night that would be engrained in his memory for the rest of his life.

Iwaizumi was just a minute or two away from his own house when he heard his phone ding in his pocket, signifying that he’d received a text. He fished it out, knowing who it was from before even seeing the screen.

**One New Message From: Shittykawa <3**

**Yahoo Iwa-chan! Be careful and make sure you let me know when you get home!!! And before you roll your eyes or tell me that I’m acting like your mother or something, I just care about you and want to know that you’re safe. You are my boyfriend after all ;) Anyhoo, I know you just left but I miss you so get up and get your ass over here early or I may die!! Love you xoxo**

Iwaizumi smiled softly at his phone. He was happy, happier than he had been for a while. He took a deep breath before turning to open the front door to his house, knowing the chaos that was about to ensue. But he didn’t care. He was happy. He felt like he was finally exactly where he was supposed to be.

Fifteen minutes into the first volleyball practice back from Winter break, the doors to the gym slammed open as Matsukawa and Hanamaki slunk in dramatically, not even caring that they were the last to arrive.

The team turned to stare at them and Oikawa frowned, beginning to stomp over to the pair to reprimand them for being late when they simultaneously lifted a hand each, effectively stopping the captain in his tracks with a bewildered look on his face.

Mattsun cleared his throat loudly. “Hear ye, hear ye, residents of Aoba Johsai Volleyball team! We come bearing news that we have all been awaiting for far too long!”

Iwaizumi was getting frustrated now, walking up to where Oikawa was standing, but not getting any further as he was also stopped.

“Now you may be wondering what this incredible news could possibly be,” Makki’s voice echoed off of the walls of the large room, “so allow me to enlighten you. Mom,” he gestured to Oikawa.

“And dad,” Mattsun added, turning to Iwaizumi.

“Actually managed to figure their shit out on their own and are finally together and grossly in love!”

The captain and vice-captain stood frozen in place, mouths wide open in shock and unwilling to turn around to face the rest of the team. Eventually, Iwaizumi’s face fell and he rolled up his sleeves, to which Oikawa was definitely not complaining about, and set his gaze on the asshole twins, hands in fists. “I swear to _fucking_ god I am going to rearrange your-”

“ _Shut._ Up!” He narrowly escaped prison as Kindaichi practically squealed in happiness. “Like for real!?’

They turned to face the first-year and Oikawa was the one to speak first. “Kin-Kindaichi?”

“Oh, umm, sorry Oikawa san, Iwaizumi san,” Kindaichi kicked his feet anxiously, “I, well, we,” he gestured to Kunimi next to him.

“No. Keep me out of this,” the other deadpanned.

“Sorry! Umm, it’s just that, ever since Kitagawa, I’ve kind of, uh, shipped you guys together?”

“I-I’m sorry?” Oikawa asked incredulously. “You…what?”

“Well, I’ve just always kind of looked up to you guys and thought that you complement each other really well and, uh, yeah…” Kindaichi trailed off.

Oikawa’s face broke into a big smile as he walked over to the first year and ruffled his hair, “You know what Kindaichi kun? You’re so right! We really do!” He turned to the rest of the team now, “And yes, the rumors are true, Iwa-chan and I officially became boyfriends over winter break! Though this isn’t _exactly_ how we wanted to tell you guys,” he shot a glare at the two who were still standing in the doorway as Mattsun blew a kiss his way, “we’re just really happy, but we want you all to know that us being together won’t change anything about the team or affect our playing.”

“Oh no, it will,” Watari suddenly spoke up from behind everyone else, “but in a good way. We were all honestly getting really tired of watching you both pine after each other… _constantly_ …every single day. It was painful to watch, really. So, on behalf of the team, thank you both for finally growing some balls so that we can all stop suffering.” Everyone was speechless. Nobody had expected Watari, of all people, to be so bold, and the gym erupted into laughter.

“Anyway!” Oikawa wrapped an arm around Iwaizumi’s waist and planted a kiss on his cheek, earning an embarrassed blush from his boyfriend “so that’s that, I guess. Now that our relationship is out in the open, are there any questions, comments, or concerns?”

Kyotani slowly started to raise his hand, but it was lowered by Yahaba’s as he just shook his head.

“But I have a question,” Kyotani muttered under his breath.

Yahaba kept his eyes trained forward, “no you don’t.”

“But, but how do two guys-”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“But I wanna know?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Oikawa clapped his hands. “Alright, if there are none, then let practice resume! Iwa-chan came up with this training regiment specifically to pull out everybody’s strengths with the prelims coming up, so I don’t want to hear any grumbling.” When nobody moved, Oikawa raised his voice and spoke sternly, “now!”

The team reluctantly trudged back to the positions that they had been in before practice had been interrupted.

“Damn, Iwa, I’m pretty impressed. You came up with this all on your own? I’m kind of excited,” Makki came up and clapped the ace on the back.

“Oh no, not you two.” Oikawa glowered at the late-comers. “You two get to do diving drills for the rest of practice. Now go away,” he waved them off.

After the two had shuffled away, muttering indistinguishable insults under their breath, Iwaizumi turned to his boyfriend and finally spoke up. “Oikawa, that was-that was kind of hot.”

“ _Oh?_ What was, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa cocked an eyebrow suggestively.

“The way that you just. Took charge like that. It was hot.” Iwaizumi was smirking on the outside while simultaneously passing away on the inside. _Holy shit._

“Well being able to take control is definitely one of my strengths,” Oikawa said while running a finger up Iwaizumi’s bicep before lowering his voice, “but let’s save that for another time when it’s just the two of us.”

Iwaizumi shuddered.

“Hmm, as much as I want to just grab you and make out with you right here and now, we should probably get back to practice. But we can definitely come back to this conversation again,” he winked as he jogged over to the net to start setting for the spikers who were waiting impatiently.

“Y-yeah, another time,” Iwaizumi gulped before prying his feet from where they were practically now a part of the floor and joining the others. _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

Sometime during practice, Iwaizumi’s mother had left him a voicemail, expressing her distaste for the fact that Oikawa had not yet been to the house since they’d become official and insisted that he was to come over for dinner, making very clear that she would not be taking no for an answer. The setter was happy to oblige.

“Yay! Dinner with my Iwa-chan and Iwa-mom? Like I would ever pass that up!” Oikawa clapped his hands together in delight. “She’s okay with,” he moved his hands in a circular motion, gesturing to the two of them, “ _us,_ right?”

“Are you kidding me?” Iwaizumi chuckled as they began their walk to his house, “I’m pretty sure she would have been even more devastated than me if you’d rejected me.”

Oikawa scoffed. “Okay, first of all, like I would have ever rejected you. Second of all, I don’t know whether to be offended or happy about that.”

Iwaizumi punched the other’s arm playfully, “you know what I mean, Loserkawa. But honestly, she really is happy for us. She probably would have locked us in a room together and forced us to talk about our feelings if we’d taken any longer to figure it out ourselves.”

“Hmm, but being locked in a room alone with you doesn’t sound so bad to me, Iwa-chan. Who knows what could have happened? Maybe you _should_ have chickened out of kissing me again.” Oikawa had a mischievous glint in his eye that made Iwaizumi squirm.

“Oh, umm, y-yeah, wh-who knows what could’ve hap-happened? B-beats me! Ha, ha, ha…” Iwaizumi trailed off with a blush as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. _Is this what being in a relationship with him is like? I mean, I’m definitely not complaining, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to end up killing me. I hope he has a few nice words to say at my funeral. Maybe the team can come and give me a proper send-off._

Oikawa caught Iwaizumi’s hand that was scratching away nervously and brought it down to his side, holding it tight as they continued walking. “You know you don’t have to be anxious around me, right? I may be your boyfriend now but I’m still Oikawa. I’m still your best friend. The only thing that’s changed is that now I can do this,” he grabbed onto Iwaizumi’s bicep, “and this,” he smacked his butt playfully, “and this,” he said stopping in place and bringing the other into a passionate kiss, “all that I want.”

Iwaizumi’s hands automatically found themselves on Oikawa’s waist as he leaned deeper into the kiss, any nerves or anxiety effectively melting away as he melted into his boyfriend, before eventually pulling away, breathless. “I could do that all day,” he said placing his forehead against Oikawa’s.

“And I would be more than happy to oblige, just maybe not in public.”

Iwaizumi looked up to see that they had, in fact, gained the attention of quite a few spectators walking home from school or work. He blushed and quickly grabbed Oikawa’s hand before breaking into a sprint, the other happily laughing behind him as he was pulled along.

The pair strolled into Iwa’s house thirty minutes later. It normally would have only taken them twenty, but Oikawa had insisted on stopping at the store to buy flowers for Iwaizumi’s mother as a thank you for inviting him over.

“Why?” Iwaizumi had asked, “It’s not like you don’t practically live at my house already.”

“But this is different!”

“It’s not, though? She’s known you since we were eight. You’re pretty much the kid that she always wanted.”

“You don’t get it, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa had grown more serious, “yes, I may basically consider her as family, but this is my first time meeting my _boyfriend’s_ mother. I just want to be sure that I make a good first impression.” When Iwaizumi hadn’t responded, he continued. “Please, Hajime? For me?” Oikawa batted his eyelashes.

Iwaizumi still thought that the idea was pretty stupid, but if it made Oikawa happy, he was willing to let it go.

And so they found themselves walking into the house hand-in-hand with Oikawa’s other hand being occupied by the biggest flower arrangement that he had managed to find in the little store.

“Mom! We’re home!” Iwaizumi called as they took off their shoes at the door and walked into the kitchen. His mother was standing over the stove cooking something that smelled heavenly and their mouths instantly began to water. “Wow, mom, this smells incredible! What’s the occasion?”

“You two, of course!” she turned off the stove and walked over, pulling them both into a big hug. “I’m just so happy for you guys and I want you both to know that I support you completely,” she pulled away to look at their faces, “also, it was getting kind of exhausting watching you skirt around your feelings for each other for so long, so think of this as a thank-you-dinner as well.”

Iwaizumi chuckled, “ya know, that’s actually not the first time we’ve heard that today, right Oikawa?”

But Oikawa simply jutted his hand out, holding the flowers in front of her face. “Th-these are for you! Thank you for allowing me to date your son!” She took the bouquet and he bowed.

Iwaizumi was at a loss for words. _Was he actually nervous? After acting all cocky on the way over here? Oh my god, that’s really cute. I’m never letting him live this down, though._

“Honey, please, you don’t have to bow,” Iwaizumi’s mother placed a hand on Oikawa’s shoulder and he stood back up, “and there’s no need to thank me at all. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. I know how much you care for Hajime and I’m happy that it’s you that he’s with. I couldn’t think of anyone better for him if I tried.”

Oikawa sniffled and she pulled him into another big hug. Iwaizumi felt his heart swell about three times its normal size at the sight in front of him. This was his family, his mother and Tooru, and he couldn’t have been happier. He didn’t need anything else other than this.

“Alright, let’s eat!” she pulled away and turned to her son, “go set the table, dear. Don’t leave Tooru and me waiting or the food will get cold.”

“Yeah, Iwa-chan, get to it!”

“I-fine.”

Dinner was going great as per usual, as the three laughed and chatted and ate, just happy to be in each other’s’ presence. Iwaizumi’s mother had made tempura and udon soup and the two boys were happily scarfing down every last bite, famished from the intense practice earlier, courtesy of Iwaizumi.  
  


About thirty minutes into the meal, Iwa’s mom sat forward, resting her chin in one hand and tapping the nails on her other on the hard surface of the table. “So tell me Tooru, what are your intentions with my son?”

“Well, there’s something that you should probably know.” He looked nervous and Iwaizumi started to sweat, having no idea what was about to come out of Oikawa’s mouth. “We’re…we’re pregnant.”

She gasped, eyes wide, as her hand flew to her mouth. “Hajime!” She smacked him on the back of the head. “I thought I raised you better. You know that I don’t care what you do as long as you use protection and now look,” she feigned wiping away a tear, “you’re going to be a teen mother.”

The house was filled with booming laughter as Iwaizumi’s face fell into his hands. He shook his head, wishing that either this dinner would end, or he would simply die, not caring which came first.

The trio went on in the same manner for another half hour, with Oikawa and his mother poking fun at Iwaizumi, who rolled his eyes and sighed loudly in response, though he was secretly enjoying himself and felt nothing but happiness, but he would never let them know that.

After dessert, which, much to Oikawa’s delight, was homemade milk bread with cream, Iwaizumi quickly cleared the table and did the dishes while the other two sat and chatted some more. He’d caught the tail-end of something about how “Hajime had it bad, Tooru. I’m sorry he’s so dense,” but he decided to shrug it off in favor of getting done as soon as possible so that he and Oikawa could spend some time together alone before it got too late and the other had to go home.

“Okay, everything’s cleaned up and put away. Thanks for dinner mom, bye!” he grabbed Oikawa’s hand, who yelped in response to being yanked up from the table, “we’re gonna go study now!”

“Have fun, you two!” she called after them as they disappeared up the stairs, “But not too much fun! I don’t want to be a grandmother just yet!”

“That’s not how it works!” came Iwaizumi’s muffled voice from behind his closed door.

His mother simply shook her head and chuckled as she walked into the living room and turned on the television.

Once inside the room, Oikawa pushed Iwaizumi against the door and began his assault on the other’s lips, slipping his hands under his shirt and running them up and down the very much toned abs in front of him. “How the hell did I get so lucky? Also how the hell are you so ripped?” he asked between kisses.

“Well…if you didn’t…skip out on the gym…with me…so much…maybe you wouldn’t be…jealous.” His lips moved in sync with Oikawa’s as he buried his hands in his hair, not-so-secretly enjoying the feeling of being pinned against the door as his boyfriend caressed his torso, leaving trails of fire as he did.

He felt Oikawa smirk and nip at his lips, “Oh trust me, I’m not jealous. I’m just admiring. Not everyone is as lucky as me and can say that their boyfriend looks like he was chiseled from marble by the gods. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that-”

But he was cut off mid-sentence as Iwaizumi’s lips found their way to his neck, his warm tongue a sharp contrast to the chilly January air coming in through the slight crack in the window. Oikawa was in a trance and could no longer comprehend words, opting, instead, for small gasps as his boyfriend sucked on a spot under his jaw.

His voice returned when he felt a small tug at his hair. “Oh, Iwa, I got the chills,” Oikawa whispered as he bit hard on his bottom lip.

Iwaizumi looked up and glared at the other, “If you catch a cold and give it to me, I’m going to kick your ass. I told you to wear your jacket the other day on your run but _nooo ‘I’ll be fine,’_ ” he mimicked the other.

“Oh my god, I’m not getting sick! I got the chills from you, stupid.”

“Oh.” Iwaizumi’s smile was back and his lips returned to their previous position on his boyfriend’s neck, “well that’s okay then.”

They continued like this for a little while longer and Oikawa could feel himself getting more and more excited. Obviously he had imagined what it would be like to make out with Iwaizumi. He had had a fat crush on him for the longest time and often fell asleep dreaming of his lips, but none of that had even come close to preparing him for the real thing. The Iwaizumi who was taking in every inch of his face and neck like it was the very air in his lungs. The Iwaizumi who was gently tugging at his hair as he pulled him impossibly closer. The Iwaizumi who loved him back, even if he hadn’t said it out loud yet. He didn’t care if he was being selfish, he wanted more. “Talk dirty to me, Hajime,” he breathed out, voice shaky.

Iwaizumi brought his lips up to Oikawa’s ear and lingered there for a moment, the other getting visibly antsier the longer he waited, before whispering in the most seductive voice that he could produce, “We need to study for our algebra test.”

“Wow,” Oikawa deadpanned. The moment was gone. “So sexy.”

Iwaizumi grinned as he pulled away and shrugged “Oops. You already made me fail one test by distracting me, and I’ll be damned if I let you do it again.”

“But that wasn’t my fault!”

“It kind of was.”

“H-how could I have possibly made you fail your test, Iwa-chan? That sounds like a you-problem.”

“Nope, you and your stupidly perfect hands were enough to distract me last time. Not gonna happen again.”

Oikawa frowned as he sighed in defeat, “fine, but you owe me now.”

“Oh trust me; I’ll make it up to you,” Iwaizumi placed a small kiss on his nose, “just not tonight.”

They ended up studying for about an hour before ultimately giving up, believing that if it was meant to be that they would pass, and opting, instead, to cuddle on the bed. Oikawa was sat up against the wall as Iwaizumi lay in between his legs with his head in the other’s lap, as Oikawa softly stroked his hair and hummed.

“What are you humming?” Iwaizumi asked from his lap.

“Oh, it’s just some song I heard on the radio the other day; it’s called 18 or something like that. I think it’s by One Direction. I liked it.”

“I like it too. It sounds pretty.”

Oikawa smiled, “would you like me to serenade you?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Too late!” He began belting out the lyrics of the song off-key and the other broke into a fit of laughter.

 _“I have loved you since we were 18!! Long before we both thought the same thing, to be loved and to be in love! And all I can do is say that these arms were made for holding you,”_ he reached down and wrapped his arms around Iwaizumi’s head awkwardly as the other tried and failed to pry them off, _“and I want a looooove like you made me feel when we were 18…”_

Iwaizumi reached up and punched Oikawa lightly in the gut, but just hard enough that he stopped singing and doubled over, reaching up and bringing his face down to meet his and enveloping him in a kiss.

“Mmmm,” Oikawa hummed, “maybe I should sing to you more often if this is where it’s going to end up.”

“Please don’t do me any favors,” Iwaizumi smirked into the kiss and wrapped his arms around the other’s neck, pulling him in closer. He immediately let go, however, when Oikawa winced in pain as he shifted in his lap. He sat up quickly, concern in his eyes. “Oh my god, are you okay!? What happened?”

“N-nothing happened! Everything is fine!” Oikawa gritted out through clenched teeth. He was very clearly in pain.

“Mhm, do you wanna try maybe telling me the truth?” when he didn’t receive an answer, he added more softly, “Please?”

Oikawa figured that there was no point in arguing with his boyfriend and spoke in a quiet voice, reluctantly, “It’s just…my knee.”

 _How could I have been so careless? How could I have forgotten about his knee? Oh my god, I hurt him._ “Tooru, I’m so sorry. I should have been more careful; I can’t believe I rolled onto it. I am so, so sorry.” Iwaizumi was beginning to tear up.

“Hey, I’m okay, really Hajime. It wasn’t even that bad! My knee has kind of been more sensitive with the cold weather, anyway. There’s no way you could have known if I didn’t tell you. I’m totally fine now!”

“B-but I-”

“But nothing. Now, would you please just lay back down?”

Iwaizumi didn’t completely believe him but hesitantly returned to his previous position, careful to avoid Oikawa’s bad knee. He could feel the guilt eating away at him, but didn’t want to push anything that Oikawa clearly did not want to talk about.

“Thank you. I’m okay, I promise, now stop overthinking and close your eyes.” He returned to stroking his hair as he had been.

Iwaizumi could feel himself succumbing to sleep, but he was pulled out when Oikawa spoke next.

“Hey, Iwa-chan…”

“Yeah?”

“Have you thought about what you want to do after we graduate?”

He hadn’t. To be honest, Iwaizumi hadn’t thought about much other than Oikawa for as long as he could remember. Even before he had recognized and accepted his feelings, he had always looked after the other since they were children, supporting his dreams and getting him out of trouble when need be (which tended to be more often than not). He had always just kind of assumed that he would follow Oikawa wherever he went and hadn’t actually given any thought to what _he_ wanted to do. But in a way, he didn’t care. Regardless of what the future looked like, he knew that Oikawa would be in it, and that was enough for him.

“Not really, to be honest. I’ve gotta keep you in check, though, don’t I?” Iwaizumi chuckled but Oikawa did not.

“That’s not your responsibility, Hajime.”

“I-I know that,” Iwa’s hands grew clammy. _Did I say something wrong? Does he not want me to follow him?_ “But you know that I just want to support you.”

“I know and I appreciate that. More than you could possibly know. But I also want you to have a goal of your own. I don’t want you to wake up one day and resent me because you never followed your dreams.”

“That could never happen,” Iwaizumi sat up so that he could look Oikawa in the eye and took his hands in his own. “Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking a bit…about after graduation. Do you remember that game that we watched when we were kids? The one where I decided that I wanted to be a setter?”

“The match between Japan and Argentina?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, but what about it?”

“I think- I think that I want to go. To Argentina, that is.”

 _Oh._ “Oh, wow, that’s…not what I was expecting.”

“Y-yeah, me either…” Oikawa trailed off, and then added quickly, “but it was just a thought! I definitely won’t even make a decision until after nationals. Hell, for all we know, after we win it all, every powerhouse school will be banging down our doors begging for us to-”

“I can’t say that my Spanish is very good right now, but I am a pretty quick learner,” Iwaizumi rubbed his chin in thought.

Oikawa stared at him incredulously, unsure if he had heard correctly. “W-what?”

“Argentina could be fun. I’ve heard that there are some really beautiful beaches, and I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing you shirtless more often.”

“You-you would want to come?”

“Well first we need to go to nationals and wipe the cocky smirk off of Ushiwaka’s face,” Iwaizumi poked Oikawa in the cheek, who giggled in response, “but afterward, if that’s what you want to do, then I’ll support you. And why wouldn’t I want to come, if you’ll be there? It’s always been the two of us, hasn’t it?”

Oikawa gave him a warm smile, “Yeah. Yeah it has.”

“Now come here,” Iwaizumi tackled Oikawa onto the bed, still careful to avoid his knee, and peppered his face with kisses.

Both boys still had doubts, Iwaizumi’s that he would hold Oikawa back from reaching his true potential and Oikawa’s that Iwaizumi would grow to resent him someday, but in this moment, a tangled mess of limbs and kisses and giggles on the bed, everything was good. It was how it was meant to be.

In the next couple of months leading up to the Spring High Preliminary Qualifier, Iwaizumi could feel himself falling deeper and deeper in love with Oikawa with each and every passing moment that they spent together.

When they’d gone on a date to the aquarium one weekend.

_“Look, Iwa-chan! This one looks like you. Look how angry he is! It’s like he’s scowling.”_

_“I swear to god I will throw you into that tank and leave you here. Maybe you can date the fish, instead.”_

_“But I don’t wanna kiss a fish, I only wanna kiss you!”_

When they went on a double date with Hanamaki and Matsukawa to the new karaoke bar after school one day when practice had been canceled, much to Oikawa’s delight and Iwaizumi’s headache.

 _“There is no way in hell that I’m singing_ Love Shack _with you. Go ask one of the assholes.”_

_“But Hajimeeeee, you’re the only one I want to sing with!”_

_“Come on, Iwa, just go sing with the man before he cries and I have to dedicate_ Single Ladies _to you.”_

_“Fine. But I’m going to be miserable the whole time.”_

_“Oh, I’m sure you will.”_

When Iwaizumi’s anxiety was eating away at him and Oikawa came over and simply let him be, rubbing his head and whispering soothing words to calm him down.

_“Shhhh, everything is okay. I’m here now; you’re going to be okay.”_

_“B-b-but how can you say that? How can you even want to be with someone like me? You’re so amazing and special and I’m so…not.”_

_“Hajime, I may have regretted a lot of things throughout my life, but you have never been, and you never will be, one of them.”_

When the stars one night were just “too beautiful to pass up,” so they laid on the ground, the only heat in the chilly winter air coming from themselves, pushed tight against one another.”

_“Why did you make me do this, Shittykawa? I’m freezing my fucking ass off; it’s going to look like yours.”_

_“Words hurt, Iwa-chan. But also, I just wanted to share something beautiful with the most beautiful person I know.”_

_“Dammit…come here.”_

When Iwaizumi had beaten Kyotani in an arm wrestle and Oikawa was latched onto his bicep for the rest of the day, bragging to anyone and everyone about “how buff my boyfriend is.”

_“You know you can let go now, right? And you don’t need to tell every person we pass in the hallway.”_

_“But why would I ever do that, Iwa-chan? That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen and I just want people to know how lucky I am Also, I like making them jealous.”_

When Oikawa doubted that he was good enough to be captain, convinced that the team would be better off if he wasn’t.

_“Do you know how stupid you sound right now?”_

_“W-what?”_

_“There is literally not one other person on this team as good as you are at drawing out everyone’s potential and, as much as we may not want to admit it, we all look up to you and would follow you anywhere. We’re proud to call you our captain.”_

When they were sitting on Oikawa’s bed together, scrolling through Instagram and making fun of people, when Oikawa’s blurry post captioned “Tobio is no match for Oikawa-san!” popped up.

_“Oh my god, when the hell did this happen?”_

_“Well, I was out with Takeru at the youth arena the other day and Tobio-chan just popped up out of nowhere and asked for my expert advice on-”_

_“You know what, forget I asked. I don’t want to know.”_

_“But he bowed to me, Iwa-chan! It was amazing!”_

When they were going to go all the way, but Iwaizumi realized that he wasn’t ready and was sure that Oikawa would hate him, but he was met with so much love and understanding that his heart nearly burst.

_“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I know that I shouldn’t have started if I wasn’t ready, but I just thought that things would be different in the heat of the moment and that maybe I could-”_

_“Hajime, look at me. I am not mad at you. I’m proud of you for being honest with me about how you feel. I could never be mad at you over something like this. We don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do. I want us both to be 100% sure before taking that next step, and I’m willing to wait as long as that takes.”_

_“I don’t deserve you.”_

_“You deserve the world. Now come here, I’m going to cuddle you so hard.”_

On the night when they finally did.

_“And you’re completely positive that you want to do this?”_

_“I am.”_

_“Because I don’t want you to feel like you owe anything to me. I’m just happy to be with you and would be totally content just laying down and watching a movie or something, or we could order take-out and-”_

_“Oh my god, would you please shut up and just kiss me? I’m 100% sure. I’m ready, Tooru.”_

_“You’re so amazing.”_

Every night when Iwaizumi stared at the snow globe that Oikawa had given him as he fell asleep, watching the glitter settle and feeling completely at peace.

_I love him so much._

To Iwaizumi, everything about Oikawa was perfect. From the way that he giggled in between kisses, and tucked his hair behind his ear, and stuck his tongue out ever so slightly when he was concentrating on something. How he led the team with pride and inspired everyone to be their best. How Iwaizumi was completely and utterly, head-over-heels in love with him and wanted more than anything else to let him know, but also wanted to wait so that the moment was perfect.

They were solid. Everything about their relationship was perfect. But of course, most things don’t typically stay perfect forever…

It was the early morning on the first day of the Spring Prelims and the bus was set to depart from the school in twenty minutes. The entire team should have been in the gym, but the only members present were Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Watari, and Kindaichi.

Oikawa was pacing in the corner of the gym while Iwaizumi was trying (and failing) to calm him down. “I’m going to throw up, Iwa-chan. I’m actually going to throw up. Or pass out. Yeah, that too.”

Iwaizumi stood to the side and watched him pace, “Oikawa, you need to calm down. Take some deep breaths. Come on, _in…and out…in…and out.”_

“I am calm! I don’t need to breathe!”

“No, stupid, you’re having a mental breakdown. Also, I’m pretty sure if you don’t breathe, you actually _will_ pass out. And as much as I wouldn’t mind giving you mouth-to-mouth, I’d rather not start off my morning that way.”

Oikawa faltered for a moment and a semblance of a smile appeared on his face. He started taking deep breaths with Iwaizumi until he saw Kindaichi frantically texting someone before bolting out of the gym shouting as he left, “I’ll be right back, I promise!”

“ _Oh my god!_ ” Oikawa turned on his heel and pointed a finger at Watari, who almost dropped the bagel in his hand. “ _You._ ”

“M-me?” Watari stuttered out.

“You’re officially my favorite,” he barked out aggressively, his tone very much a contradiction to his words “I hope you’re having a great morning and that your bagel is delicious. I’m buying you ramen later.”

“O-okay…thanks?” 

Iwaizumi shot him a look that read _I’m sorry, he’s just stressed,_ and Watari nodded understandingly.

Just moments later the gym doors swung open violently and Yahaba was pushing Kyotani onto the floor, anger on his face as he did so, “I told you to get your ass in there _now!”_

The third-years dropped what they were doing and ran over to the pair. Oikawa was in shock as he spoke. “What the _fuck_ is happening right now!?”

Yahaba rolled his eyes, “This asshole was just sitting in an empty classroom and wouldn’t leave, so I had to physically drag him here which, mind you, was not the easiest task,” Oikawa noted that Yahaba was, in fact, rather red in the face from overexertion.

 _“Why,_ Mad Dog-chan?”

Silence

Iwaizumi cleared his throat and glared at the second-year “ _Kentaro._ ”

“I didn’t wanna come. You people get on my nerves.”

Oikawa pouted and whined as he spoke, “Why do you only respond to Iwa-chan?”

But before Kyotani even had a chance to answer or, more likely, ignore further, the doors swung open once again, though less violently this time, and Kindaichi came sprinting back in, practically dragging Kunimi behind him, the latter still wearing fuzzy pajama pants.

Oikawa rubbed his temples and let out an exasperated breath. “Do I even wanna know?” Iwaizumi rubbed his back in an attempt to help calm him down.

Kindaichi was very much out of breath as he spoke, “I…was texting Kunimi…asking if he was…close…and he said that he…forgot that today…was the day…of the prelims,” he finally managed to get out.

Kunimi only shrugged in response, “oops?”

Iwaizumi was now the one with shock on his face as he spoke next, “So-so you ran to his house?”

“And I pulled him out of bed and dragged him here,” Kindaichi finished, having regained his composure.

“But you were only gone for, like, ten minutes!”

“He lives close by…”

Silence

“…and I run fast?”

“You know what,” Oikawa threw his hands in the air and walked away, “I don’t even care. Everyone grab your shit and get ready to load the bus.” He was mumbling indistinguishably as he left, though the team felt that they would be better off not knowing.

Iwaizumi grumbled. “Makki and Mattsun better have a damn good excuse as to why they’re not here yet…”

“Wait,” Kunimi had suddenly perked up, looking more awake than he had previously, eyes darting around the room nervously, “they-they’re not here?”

“No and I’m pissed because we need to leave soon.”

“Let’s leave now!”

“I’m sorry?”

“Yeah!” Kunimi was practically buzzing with excitement as he gathered his gym bag and grabbed onto Kindaichi, pulling him in the direction of the bus, “if we leave now, maybe they won’t make it in time!”

Iwaizumi shook his head and began helping the other members collect their things while Oikawa stood in the doorway and scowled. “If you keep frowning, you’re going to give yourself frown lines, Tooru,” he called over to his boyfriend who scoffed in response.

“I will have you know, Iwa-chan, that I take very good care of my skin and you of all people should know this, seeing as you-” but he was cut off as the sound of Kunimi screaming loudly from the direction of the bus echoed throughout the gym. “What the hell happened _now_!?” Oikawa yelled as he ran off in the direction of the scream, the rest of the team trailing close behind.

Iwaizumi was not quite sure what he’d expected to see as he ran up the stairs to the bus, but it definitely wasn’t the scene that was currently playing out. It was horrifying. Kunimi was curled up on one of the front seats silently crying and muttering “oh my god, oh my god” over and over as Kindaichi rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him. He shot Iwa a pleading look. Matsukawa was buttoning his shirt back up and his hair was a mess. He wore an accomplished smirk on his face as he buckled his belt. _Oh…oh no. Oh god no. Please tell me they weren’t..._ His eyes made their way further only to see Hanamaki on the floor laughing hysterically with Oikawa on top of him, shaking him by the collar of his shirt, which was also half-undone. _Oh my god they were…_

“That’s enough!” Iwaizumi spoke in a booming voice, making his presence known and effectively silencing the bus. “I don’t know what was happening on this bus just now and, to be quite frank, I really don’t want to know. Everyone is going to grab their shit and sit down in a seat _now._ Coach will be here any minute and he will _not_ be walking in to this. Today is an important day and I expect every single one of you to take it seriously. Understood?” When no one answered he barked a bit louder, “Understood!?”

“Y-yes sir!” came a resounding answer as the rest of the team shuffled onto the bus and everyone took their seats.

Once everyone was settled, Iwaizumi plopped down into the seat next to Oikawa in the front and rested his head on the other’s shoulder.

Oikawa rubbed his head and leaned down, “thanks, Hajime. You’re a really good vice-captain, you know that right? Everyone really respects you.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re just scared of me.”

Oikawa laughed, “Hey that works too.”

“They respect you too, ya know.”

“Yeah…I know.” He sounded unsure but Iwaizumi wasn’t given the opportunity to dig any deeper as someone stepped onto the bus.

“Well would you look at this,” coach looked proud, “I’ve never seen you guys this organized and prepared to go before.” He chuckled as he continued, “it’s kind of a nice change of pace.” Everyone laughed nervously but coach either didn’t notice or didn’t want to know, “Now let’s get going, we have some games to win!”

The bus erupted into cheers as they started to drive away. Iwaizumi placed his hand onto Oikawa’s thigh and squeezed gently. “You’ve got this.”

Oikawa smiled in return and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “ _We’ve_ got this.”

The bus ride to the arena was, to Iwaizumi’s absolute shock, surprisingly silent. Whether everyone was still too scarred by what they’d witnessed on the bus, or intimidated by the vice-captain, he didn’t really care. He was enjoying the peace and quiet, where he could sit and relax and help Oikawa to relax after the stressful morning. They each had in a blue ear bud that was connected to Oikawa’s phone, who insisted on blasting One Direction the whole way there. Iwaizumi pretended to be annoyed, but even he couldn’t keep his foot from tapping along to the beat of “Kiss You.” When the song was over, he reached over and grabbed Oikawa’s face, bringing him into a kiss.

“And what was that for?” Oikawa smiled against Iwaizumi’s lips.

“Well the song told me to ‘Kiss You,’ so who am I to go against what these five British guys say?”

“Actually one of them is Irish,” Oikawa mumbled as he started frantically searching through the songs on his phone.

“What the hell are you looking for?”

_“Let’s Get It On.”_

Iwaizumi had a puzzled look on his face, “like the Marvin Gaye song?”

“Yup,” Oikawa was still scrolling.

“Ok follow up question. Why?”

“Well if you’re listening to what songs tell you to do now…”

Iwaizumi smacked Oikawa on the back of the head, “we are _not_ Makki and Mattsun.”

Two voiced piped up from the back of the bus. “You rang?”

“Nope!” Iwaizumi and Oikawa blurted out quickly and in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

When the bus pulled in to the parking lot, everyone began collecting their bags and slowly started to trickle off, except for Kunimi who nearly tripped as he sprinted out the minute the doors opened. Coach shot Iwaizumi a questioning look, but the latter just shrugged. _Oh god, the poor kid is going to have trauma connected to this bus._

The captain and vice-captain were the last to exit, making sure that everyone actually got off and in one piece. They were making their way down the stairs when Oikawa’s phone dinged, signifying a text, and he physically stopped as he read it.

Iwaizumi was confused, and slightly annoyed at not being able to move further off the bus, “Everything okay?”

Oikawa simply showed him the phone screen.

**One New Message From: Ushi-Baka**

**I see that you have arrived. You would have looked better arriving, however, on Shiratorizawa’s bus.**

Iwaizumi shuddered as they walked off and looked around. “That’s…that’s creepy. Where even is he? I don’t see him anywhere.”

“That’s because he’s everywhere, Iwa-chan. He’s everywhere.”

“It-it’s okay…I think.”

Oikawa shook his head violently and snapped out of his fear-induced trance before turning to address the team, “Alrighty, everyone, this is it! You guys go ahead in with coach and get settled. I’m gonna head to the bathroom quick, so I’ll meet up with you all in just a minute.” He turned to Iwaizumi, “Iwa-chan, would you care to join me?”

“You’re not capable of peeing on your own?”

Oikawa pouted.

“Fine.”

What they were greeted with when they made their way to the bathroom was an interesting sight, to say the least.

Oikawa leaned over to Iwaizumi and spoke in a low voice, “hey, Iwa-chan, isn’t that the shorty from Karasuno? Why is he staring down the bathroom door? He looks like it just insulted him or something.”

“Yeah, I think it is. And hell if I know, he’s always been kinda weird every time we’ve played them.”

“Tobio-chan must be rubbing off on him. Oh, I have a great idea!”

“Oikawa, we just came so you could use the bathroom, we need to get back to the team.”

“I know, but first put on your most intimidating face…well, _you_ don’t really have to, but follow my lead,” he whispered as he puffed out his chest and walked up to stand behind Hinata. Iwaizumi sighed before following suit.

“Whatcha doin’?” Oikawa asked in the cockiest voice he could manage and Hinata nearly jumped a foot.

“I-it’s the Great King…and Seijoh’s ace!” the first-year squeaked, very obviously in distress.

Oikawa smirked, pleased that he had managed to intimidate the smaller boy, and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but smile. _He’s absolutely ridiculous, but I love him._ He shook his head and was about to add to Oikawa’s fun when another voice appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. _Oh you have got to be kidding me._

“Hinata Shoyo…oh and Oikawa and Iwaizumi.” Ushijima was standing there looking as punchable as ever, and Iwaizumi was surprised that he didn’t have to hold Oikawa back from doing just that.

Oikawa scowled, anger apparent on his face “where did he even come from?”

“Hell if I know.”

Ushijima continued, “This is the last tournament of your high school career for you two.”

Iwaizumi was now just as fired up. “Oh this won’t be the last. We’re going to beat all of your asses and make it to nationals.”

“You know that there can only be one representative, correct?”

“Yeah, and it’s going to be-”

“It’s going to be Karasuno!” Hinata stuttered out but instantly cowered as Oikawa glared at him.

“Would you please just stay out of this?” he turned to Ushijima then, “you listen here, Wakatoshi, my team is going to shove our win so far up your ass that you won’t ever be able to spike again. Oh, and another thing-”

But Oikawa was cut off as another large player, whom Iwaizumi noted as Aone Takanobu from Date Tech, approached the bathroom and greeted Hinata. _Date Tech. That’s the team we’re about to play._

Oikawa had decided that he’d had enough of this conversation and that using the bathroom was no longer a priority, grabbing Iwaizumi’s hand and pulling him away.

Ushijima called after them, “I wish you both the best of luck.”

“Screw you,” Oikawa said as he flipped him off.

Once they had almost made it back to where the rest of the team was (hopefully) stretching and warming up, Iwaizumi stopped Oikawa.

“Look, Iwa-chan, I know that I acted pretty childish back there, but he started it!”

Iwaizumi placed a kiss to his cheek before he spoke. “That was incredibly attractive.”

“O-oh?”

“The way that you stood up for the team and for yourself. I’m so proud to be your boyfriend. Now let’s go kick some ass.”

“I-Iwa-chan, you’re making me blush!”

Iwaizumi laughed as he walked hand-in-hand with his boyfriend to meet up with the others. In that moment, he’d made up his mind. _I’m going to tell him that I love him. We’re going to beat Shiratorizawa and I’m finally going to tell him that I’m in love with him._

The match between Aoba Johsai and Date Tech was over quickly, with Seijoh taking both sets, but not without having to jump over some hurdles to get there. At first, the team had been intimidated by the sight of the other school’s new giant setter, who was only a first-year, but they soon realized that with his age came a lack of experience and a lack of talent.

Despite this, however, Date Tech wasn’t known as the infamous “Iron Wall” for nothing, and Oikawa had quickly learned this more than anyone else, as even his most powerful spikes were continuously blocked out by the seemingly unbreakable fortress. Of course, Hanamaki and Matsukawa took this as a prime opportunity to berate their captain relentlessly about his shortcomings.

_“What the hell was that, dude? Aren’t you supposed to be like, good or something?”_

_“Yeah, I fucking set you the ball and everything. You had literally one job.”_

_“Iwa-chan, are you hearing this!? This is no way that a captain should be treated.”_

_“How many times do I have to tell you to just block them out!? They get off on getting a rise out of you so just stop and focus on hitting the damn ball!”_

In the end, it was Iwaizumi who was able to finally break through the iron wall, which had slowly been chiseled away at by the rest of the team. He’d started to get pissed off as Oikawa tried setting differently in an attempt to get past the blocks, so he took him aside and explained that they should “just do what we normally do. Let me take on this challenge.” The setter had attempted to protest, but was effectively shut up as Iwaizumi grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks tightly, and looking at him so intently, Oikawa could have sworn he was staring into his soul.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, you know that.”

“Then just get me the ball. I’m going to win this for us. For _you._ ” And he had done just that, scoring the final point of the set and solidifying Aoba Johsai’s slot in the next match.

“Karasuno, huh?” Oikawa asked in disbelief as he and Iwaizumi examined the newly-updated brackets. “I don’t know whether to be more surprised or impressed that they made it this far.”

“I’d say a mixture of both,” Iwaizumi shrugged and slung his arm around his boyfriend. “Are you feeling okay?”

Oikawa looked puzzled, “of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you aren’t putting too much pressure on your knee. I noticed that you were favoring it during the last half of the second set and it’s kind of my job to look out for you if you aren’t going to do it yourself,” Iwaizumi playfully punched him in the side.

Oikawa leaned down and placed a kiss on the tip of his boyfriend’s nose, “This is me promising you right now that I am completely fine.”

“You don’t need to rest it at all?”

“No, Iwa-chan.”

“Do you want me to get you some ice?”

“No, Iwa-chan.”

“Maybe I should help you do some of the stretches that your doctor gave you to do.”

“No, Iwa-chan.”

“Okay, but I really think that-”

“ _Hajime._ I already promised you that I’m fine. I appreciate you worrying about me, but you’re starting to sound like your mother.”

Iwaizumi scoffed in response, “You take that back, I am not nearly that bad!”

“Hmmm,” Oikawa pretended to be deep in thought, “you’re right. You’re actually worse.”

“Hey!” Iwaizumi took off after Oikawa who had slunk out from his boyfriend’s arm and started to run, already anticipating the ear-full he was about to receive and the pair erupted into laughter as he was promptly tackled to the ground, not caring at all who was watching.

Oikawa spoke first once he’d regained his composure. “Now let’s go teach Tobio-chan a lesson.”

“Let’s go teach all of them a lesson.”

“Yeah…but mostly Tobio-chan.”

And so Oikawa found himself, face-to-face, with the very Kageyama Tobio that he wanted so badly to put in his place, fighting over a ball during warm-ups and staring each other down with fire in their eyes. Eventually, the third-year let go of the ball, practically in hysterics, as the first-year went flying.

Hanamaki approached Iwaizumi, who was simply watching the scene unfold as he rubbed his temples. “Is this guy really a third-year?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And you’re sure you want this one?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Because you know there’s always room for you with me and Mattsun,” Makki wiggled his eyebrows. “I can just go over and tell him that you’d rather be with real men than a child.”

“Shhhh,” Iwaizumi waved the other off. “Just let him get it out of his system. Go spike a ball or something.”

“Okay!” Makki perked up suddenly, “I’ll get Kunimi to set some for me! Oh, _son!_ ”

“That’s probably not the best…idea…” Iwaizumi had attempted to warn his friend, but trailed off as the strawberry blonde skipped away happily. _I might as well just pay for Kunimi’s therapy at this point._

His eyes scanned the rest of the gym, taking in his surroundings. He could feel himself getting a bit more anxious as Ushijima’s words from earlier echoed in his head.

_“This is the last tournament of your high school career…”_

Even though Iwaizumi had nothing but confidence in his team, there were still doubts that found themselves trickling in. _What if this actually is the last one? What if I mess up? What if the training I had them do wasn’t good enough? What if we lose? What if Oikawa decides that he’d be better off without me as dead-weight halfway across the globe? What if I don’t get to tell him that I love him? What if-_

But the relentless waves of “what ifs” were almost immediately calmed as he felt the warm presence of a hand in his own, grounding his thoughts and bringing him back to reality. He looked up and saw the smiling face of his boyfriend’s staring back at him. “It’s about to start, Iwa-chan, we need to meet up with the others now,” Oikawa spoke in a soft voice and gave the other’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Iwaizumi returned the smile before he yelled out and ran over to the team, effectively hyping both them and himself up. _You need to stop overthinking this, Hajime. You’re going to win and then you’re going to tell him how you feel. Now… let the game begin._

Oikawa stood in front of the others with a look of pride on his face. This was his team. This was his family. This was their moment. “Alright guys, I hate to say it, but Karasuno is a formidable enemy. If we let our guard down, we’ll get swallowed up. So, we need to go all-out from the start. Do not underestimate the opponent.” He scanned to look at the faces of each member before continuing. “That being said, however, I want you all to know that I have nothing but confidence in you guys. You are all more than capable and I have loved watching each and every one of you grow into your talents and I look forward to continuing to play as a team. Remember that we are stronger when all six players on the court are strong, and I truly believe that we are.” Oikawa turned his gaze down slightly, “I know that I haven’t always been the captain that you’ve wanted, but I’m the captain that you’ve got and I hope that that’s been enough. Now I want you to believe in yourselves like I believe in-”

“We believe in you captain!” came a resounding cheer from the team, effectively cutting Oikawa off mid-sentence.

His heart swelled at the reassurance. “You guys, I-I don’t know what to say.”

Suddenly, a whistle sounded, signifying that the match was about to begin.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Iwaizumi said as he put his hand on Oikawa’s shoulder before adding sweetly, “but if you mess up, you owe us ramen.” He patted his shoulder and ran off.

“Oooh, I’ll take extra char siu pork in mine!” Makki called back as he joined Iwaizumi, taking his place on the court.

Mattsun patted Oikawa on the back, “and I’d like a side of gyoza with mine. Thanks captain!” he added with a smirk before turning to the rest of the team, “you guys make sure to put in your orders, too!”

“I-I never agreed to…you know what. Whatever.”

It was determined by the coin toss that Aoba Johsai would serve first, and Oikawa was happy to comply, unleashing a powerful serve that he was sure would be an easy first point. This was not the case, however, as Karasuno’s libero attacked from the back row and set the ball to the ace, who easily slammed it down and gave the opponent the coveted first point.

“He fucking learned that from me!” Watari yelled from the back, coming as a shock to the entire team. “Their libero. He took that back-row attack from me, dammit…” he trailed off and continued to mutter to himself under his breath. The others figured that it would be best to just leave him alone.

Karasuno irritatingly took the second point as well when one of their wing spikers, Tanka, spiked the ball easily past Iwaizumi, who became both visibly and vocally pissed, joining in with Watari’s lamenting and cursing of the other team.

The team as a whole, it seemed, was having trouble adjusting to Karasuno’s new skill level since the last time they’d played them just months ago. Makki and Mattsun were both being blocked out, Iwaizumi was being scored on, and Oikawa’s serves were either being received or going out of bounds. On match point, Kyotani was sent in to replace Kunimi, who looked almost relieved to be out of the game, in the hopes of shaking things up a bit. While the new addition had definitely been successful in intimidating the other team, he had not been very successful on a little thing known as “teamwork,” stealing a ball that had been meant for Kindaichi and effectively losing them the set.

While Oikawa was busy being worried about Kindaichi, who had been pushed to the ground by Kyotani, Iwaizumi walked over to the cause of the problem with a scowl. “What the _hell_ what that, Kentaro? Why would you steal a ball that was so obviously meant for someone else?”

“I was feeling stressed because I wasn’t put in the game and I wanted to hit something,” Kyotani deadpanned.

“That’s not a valid reason!” Oikawa shrieked as he came to join Iwaizumi, having helped Kindaichi up from the floor.

Silence

“Don’t do it again,” Iwaizumi scolded as he slapped the second-year up the side of his head.

“Yes, sir.”

Oikawa looked dejected and Makki began laughing his ass off in response. “This is fucking great,” he managed out through hysterics before yelling over to his other-half, “Mattsun, are you seeing this!?”

Mattsun gave him a smile and blew him a kiss.

Makki was no longer elated, however, when he was next to fall victim to Kyotani’s mid-air antics, being pushed to the ground just as Kindaichi had.

“Listen here you little bitch…”

The game turned around for the team, however, when Oikawa found himself able to pull out Kyotani’s potential as a decoy and use him successfully as a weapon, much to the latter’s displeasure. Yahaba made sure that he got over himself, however, grabbing Kyotani by the collar and, quite forcefully, shoving him into the wall.

Oikawa watched on with wide eyes. “Should-should I be doing something about that?”

“Shhh,” Iwaizumi grabbed his head and turned it so that he was looking away, “do something about what? I don’t see anything.”

“Ah, yeah, my bad. There’s definitely nothing violent happening over there.”

Aoba Johsai had managed to get back on their feet during the second set, reminding everyone in attendance just why they were there. They were there to win. After a brief stint with a rather annoying pinch-server who had managed to score a few points off of them, Iwaizumi managed to bring an end to his serves with a powerful spike, effectively moving Oikawa up next to serve. He smirked knowingly before setting his face and jumping into the air.

The cheering section rang out in a simultaneous “ _Oooooooooo-lé”_ as the captain served. The ball slammed into the other side of the arena with a powerful, almost deafening, force that echoed throughout the entire arena, silencing all players on both sides. They’d just won the second set, proving that they were not willing to go down without a fight.

The team cheered out, many breathing a sigh of relief. Iwaizumi ran over to his boyfriend and grabbed his face, excitement in his eyes, and kissed him, not caring that everyone could see. _Let them see. Let them know how proud I am of him and to be his. He’s a star…I just wish I was able to shine as brightly as him._

Oikawa broke the embrace with a snicker. Iwaizumi was confused until the other pointed behind him, still struggling to control his laughter, and he turned to see Hinata nudging a frozen-in-place Kageyama on the other side of the net, mouth hung wide open in disbelief.

“When, when did you guys finally-” the first-year sputtered out but was cut off by Oikawa, who was looking rather smug.

“My, my, Tobio-chan, why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”

Kageyama’s mouth snapped shut and he quickly turned to meet up with the rest of his team.

Iwaizumi was laughing now. “You know he had a crush on you in middle school right? You’re, like, his idol.”

“Oh, god, please Iwa-chan. You’re going to make me gag.”

“Well, yeah…just not here.”

Oikawa turned beet red and stared at his boyfriend with wide eyes for a moment before clearing his throat and running back to his own team. Iwaizumi laughed even harder as he turned to follow.

The third set was going well, with both teams playing at 100%, unwilling to admit defeat. The ball flew back and forth from one side of the net to the other relentlessly. Every single player on the court was exhausted, but they pushed their bodies impossibly harder and harder. The score was 22 to 23, with Seijoh in the lead when Oikawa came up to serve once again. He tossed the ball high in the air and jumped, hitting it with a force so powerful, it could have been mistaken for a spike, and they were instantly brought to match point. “One more,” Oikawa whispered to himself.

The next point, however, was stolen by Karasuno, who had switched out the tall blonde for the one that Oikawa had dubbed “Mr. Refreshing.” Karasuno ultimately broke the deuce first, when Kageyama pulled off a setter dump. Oikawa stared up at his former junior in disgust as memories of middle school came flooding back in, feelings of inferiority clouding his mind. “You little brat,” he spit out before walking back to his spot on the court.

Karasuno was now at match point and up to serve. It went back and forth a few times before it was back on their side and Makki had received. However, this time, instead of going over to the other side of the net, or to the setter, it bounced off of his arm and went off to the right of the court.

“Shit! I’m so sorry!” Makki called out, but Oikawa was already chasing the ball.

Iwaizumi watched in horror at everything that unfolded and time stood still. Oikawa ran off to the side of the court and pointed over to Iwaizumi before jumping, setting the ball in mid-air toward Iwaizumi, and falling into the table behind him.

“Tooru!” Iwaizumi yelled as he jumped, unable to do anything but watch as Oikawa tried to stand up, only to fall directly onto his bad knee.

The ball was coming toward him. He was in mid-air. Oikawa was in pain. _Oh my god, Hajime, think. I need to make sure that he’s okay! But…he entrusted this ball to me._ Suddenly, Ushijima’s words from earlier echoed in his head once again. 

_“This is the last tournament of your high school career…”_

He shook his head. _No. No way in hell am I letting that happen! I’m Seijoh’s ace. This is my ball. I am going to win this for us. I have to win this for him._

His thoughts caught up to his body and he was back in the present. The ball came directly to his hand and he spiked it down, hard. He was sure that they had gotten the point, his mind going blank. When he looked behind him, however, the sight that he saw made him want to throw up.

Oikawa was crouched down.

The ball was behind him.

The ball was outside of the court.

They had lost.

He had lost.

The whistle blew, signifying that the match was over, and Karasuno burst into cheers.

_We…lost? This…is it?_

Iwaizumi’s body was working on auto-pilot as he simply went through the motions. They lined up and shook hands, then met up with coach and were told that they fought well. He could feel the force of his friends’ hands on his back, first Oikawa, then Makki, then Mattsun, and his legs moved on their own to line up with the rest of his team to thank the cheering section. He could feel the slight warmth of tears on his cheeks as he stood there, but couldn’t bring himself to wipe them away.

_I deserve these tears. He trusted me. And I failed him. How can I ever tell him that I love him now? I can’t. I won’t hold him back anymore. I won’t ruin anything for him ever again._

After they’d returned to school and gotten off of the bus, everyone went their separate ways, a solemn air hanging around them all. They were all unwilling to say the words that would make everything true. Acknowledging it only made it real. And so they chose, instead, to just leave with a mutual understanding that they would talk, just not tonight. They’d all been through too much already and deserved to rest. Kunimi and Kindaichi walked off in the direction of Kunimi’s house as the former rubbed the latter, who had hung his head low, on the back in a soothing motion. Watari and Yahaba left together as well, with Kyotani trailing a few feet behind them. Not one insult or snarky comment was heard. Hanamaki and Matsukawa tried to be their usually bubbly selves to lighten the mood, but as soon as they had turned the corner and were out of sight, Makki grabbed onto Mattsun, who held him tight, and unleashed the tears that he had been holding back. After just a few moments, only Iwaizumi and Oikawa were left standing in front of the bus.

“We should, we should go home.” Oikawa muttered dejectedly.

“Y-yeah we probably should.” Iwaizumi laced his fingers with Oikawa’s and they walked in silence for a long while before Oikawa finally spoke.

“You know what pisses me off?” Iwaizumi gave him a questioning look. “Everyone was giving 120% back there, but in the end Karasuno was just slightly better than us.” He paused for a moment before stopping in place, bringing Iwaizumi to a halt with him. “But more than anything, Iwa-chan, you should be proud of yourself for hitting that set with perfect timing.”

_Yeah, but I still couldn’t get us the point. Who am I to call myself the ace when I couldn’t do the one thing that he had entrusted me to do? Proud of myself? That’s a funny joke._

Iwaizumi only nodded and continued walking, pulling Oikawa from his spot. They were silent once again and a slight tension hung in the air. As they neared Oikawa’s house, they stopped once again, but it was Iwaizumi who had halted them this time. He turned to his boyfriend with ferocity in his eyes.

“No matter what kind of tournaments you win, you’ll never be completely satisfied. You’ll always be that annoying guy who chooses volleyball forever.”

“You always have to throw in an insult, don’t you?”

“You didn’t let me finish. You may be that annoying guy, but you’re also _my_ annoying guy, and I want you to keep going without a second thought and don’t ever stop. Go to Argentina, Tooru.”

Oikawa was dumbfounded. “I-what?”

“I couldn’t be prouder to have you as my partner, both in volleyball and in life, and you’re the most amazing setter, so don’t you ever doubt yourself. Even if we end up in different places, that fact will never change…but if you’ll still allow me, I would love nothing more than to come with you and watch you flourish.”

Even as he said those words, Iwaizumi still had his doubts. Did he still want to follow Oikawa to Argentina? If he did, would he only hold him back from reaching his full potential? Would he be able to live with himself if that happened? There was still a lot of uncertainty that squeezed at his heart, but at least for one night, just for tonight, he wanted to believe that everything would be okay, even if it wouldn’t.

“Hajime, I don’t know what to say. You’re so amazing,” he said as he brought his hand up to rest on Iwaizumi’s cheek. “I would love it if you would come with me. I love you, you know?”

_I love you too. So much…but I can’t tell you that. I ruined everything for you. I don’t deserve to say those words._

Iwaizumi only smiled. “Come on; let’s get you home before it gets too dark out.”

And so they walked in silence, hand-in-hand, as a shaky sense of security hung over them, threatening to break at the slightest touch.

The next couple of months leading up to graduation went by in a blur, and Iwaizumi only felt worse as it grew nearer. Graduation meant that Oikawa would be leaving, and he had originally planned on going with him. But now…now things were different.

The weekend after they’d lost their match against Karasuno, Oikawa had scheduled an appointment with a sports physician to have his knee looked at, as it had been bothering him worse than before after his fall. He’d asked Iwaizumi if he would go with him for moral support, and the other cautiously agreed.

“I’m sorry to tell you, Oikawa san, but this doesn’t look very good,” the doctor had said solemnly, “It would appear that when you fell, the impact injured the cartilage surrounding the knee, and I’m going to have to ask that you refrain from playing volleyball for at least a few months. This injury isn’t uncommon, but it can become very serious if not properly taken care of.”

“I-I can’t play volleyball?” Oikawa asked, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Only for a couple of months. We’re going to set you up with a few follow-up appointments before you leave in order to check on your progress.”

“But, he’ll be able to play again, right? This isn’t permanent right?” Iwaizumi wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if Oikawa’s future had been taken from him.

“Yes, he will be able to play again, but things will be different from now on. You’re going to have to take extra care of yourself and your body from now on. If this happens again, I’m not so sure I’ll be able to give you the same news.”

That night, Iwaizumi held Oikawa tightly as he sobbed into his chest, feeling a pain of his own with every tear that fell.

A month following the game, Oikawa had called one final team meeting, the last time that they would all be together in the gym, and the third-years took their turns saying their goodbyes to the underclassmen. To everyone’s complete surprise, Kunimi was the first to cry when Makki and Mattsun were taking turns telling everyone their favorite moments from playing together.

Iwaizumi could barely hold himself together, not wanting to look into the eyes of the people that had been depending on him and that he’d let down, but he set a stoic look on his face and told them all just how proud he was of each and every one of them, and encouraged them to never give up. _Not like me._

When it came time for Oikawa to speak, however, there was not a dry eye in the room. “I know that as your captain I failed you.” There were attempts to protest, but he held up his hand, silencing them all. “But as your upperclassman and senpai, I want you all to know that you have never once failed me. Going into this season, I had definitely had my reservations about whether our little group would be able to mesh or not,” Yahaba smirked and nudged Kyotani in the side who gave a small smile before returning to his usual scowl, “but looking at all of now, I see so much more than just the Aoba Johsai Volleyball Team. I see a family. There have been so many memories made here that I never want any of you to forget.”

He turned to look at the first-years. “Kindaichi and Kunimi, thank you for giving me the honor of watching you both grow so much from the time that we were in middle school until now. I know that you’re both going to do amazing things in the future and you know damn well that I’ll be in the front row of your professional games, cheering at the top of my lungs.” They both laughed and wiped at their eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.

He turned to the second-years next. “Yahaba, you have grown so much as a player and as a setter, and I feel confident that I’m leaving the team in very capable hands.” Yahaba gave him a soft smile. “Watari, you are a freaking star. There are so many plays that only you have been able to pull off and I honestly believe that you are the backbone of this team. Please keep these numbskulls in line next year so they don’t all kill each other.” Watari laughed and gave him a thumbs up. “And, Mad Dog-chan, where do I even begin?” the entire gym broke into laughter. “All joking aside, I can definitely see just how much you’ve grown. From the first time that I met you and you threatened to rip my arms off so I couldn’t set anymore, to now, where, just so you know, I definitely saw you smile earlier. I’m proud of you. Keep progressing and I know that you’ll be unmatched.”

He turned to Hanamaki and Matsukawa. “Makki and Mattsun, my favorite assholes.” Makki gave a bow while Mattsun blew him a kiss. “We’ve been through quite a bit these last three years, haven’t we? Thank you for being my teammates and my friends and sticking by me this whole time, even if it wasn’t always the most appreciated…” He walked forward and put his hands on one of their shoulders each. “I appreciate you both more than you know, and even though you annoy the living hell out of me on the daily, I love you guys. Thank you.”

Finally, he turned to the last person in the room. This was the moment that Iwaizumi had been dreading since the beginning, guilt already eating away at him. He knew that Oikawa had every right to yell at him, but he wouldn’t. He was too kind.

“Iwa-chan. You’ve always been my person, since the time that we were kids, and I could not be more thankful to have your trust and your love. Now, I could get super sappy and emotional and make everyone here uncomfortable…but I won’t put them through that. I _can_ be nice sometimes,” the room filled with laughter once again, as well as a few sighs of relief. “But I just want you to know that I have always been proud to be your partner, too, and I always will be.” He turned to look away and Iwaizumi could have sworn he saw a hint of nervousness on his face before he turned back. “No matter…no matter where the future leads us both, I want you to always remember that, and remember how much I love you.” He leaned in and gave the other a light kiss.

The team embraced. Even though they would still be seeing each other at school, the reality that this was the last time that they would be seeing each other together in the gym had finally sunk in. They reminisced for a while longer before parting ways for the last time.

Oikawa stood in front of Iwaizumi’s house the day after graduation, trying to bring himself to knock on the door. Once he went inside, there was no going back. He raised his hand and banged it against the door a few times.

It was Iwaizumi’s mother who greeted him. “Oh, Tooru, this is a pleasant surprise! Please, come in, come in,” she said as she ushered him inside. “Hajime isn’t quite home yet, but you’re more than welcome to go wait for him in his room.” She gave him a soft smile that made his heart ache.

“I, I know…Actually, mom, I was wondering if I could talk to you?”

She was obviously shocked, but continued softly, “of course, dear. I’ll make us some tea.”

Oikawa gave her a genuine smile. “That would be great.”

Once they were seated at the table, mugs of mint tea in hand, Iwaizumi’s mother leaned forward and asked the question that was on her mind. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s about Hajime.”

“Ah, I figured as much. What about?”

“Has he ever talked to you about what he wanted to do after graduation? Like, any future plans or goals or even just something that he really wants to do someday?”

She smiled sadly, a pretty good idea of where this conversation was going. “No. No, he hasn’t. For as long as I can remember, he’s only ever wanted to be with you and support you. I’ve tried to push him in a direction of his own, but he was ignoring his head and only listening to his heart. Of course, I’ve always wanted him to have a dream of his own, but it’s important that that’s a decision that he makes for himself. I’ve made sure that he knows, however, that I will support him no matter what and that he can always fall back on me.”

Oikawa looked away, and rested his face in his hands. “That, that’s what I was afraid of.”

“Tooru, honey, please look at me.” She grabbed his hands, bringing them away from his face and holding them tightly. “You’re going to Argentina alone, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?” tears were threatening to fall.

“I think I’ve always known. Don’t ask me how, but a mother always knows. And that goes for both of you. You’re both my boys, and I will always be here for _both_ of you.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too. But I know that this is something that you need to do. Please don’t worry yourself about him too much. He’s going to be hurt, that much I know, but he’ll be okay.”

He pulled her into a tight hug and allowed himself to feel completely vulnerable for a moment, silently sobbing into her shoulder before pulling away and handing her an envelope that was addressed to Iwaizumi. “Can you please give this to him for me?”

“Of course.”

Just then, Iwaizumi walked through the door. “Mom, I’m home!” he called out but stopped when he saw Oikawa standing in the kitchen with his mother. “What did I miss?” he asked nervously.

“Absolutely nothing,” Oikawa wiped at his eyes and walked over to grab onto Iwaizumi’s hands. “Hey, Hajime. Can we go up to your room? I, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh, umm, I actually had something that I wanted to talk to you about, too.”

“Okay. Let’s go then.”

On the night before graduation, Iwaizumi had been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, while his brain moved a mile a minute. He was thinking about the future with no certainty. Up until recently, his plan had always been to stay with Oikawa and look after him, making sure that he was able to live out his dreams. Iwaizumi had figured that he would simply follow and, wherever he ended up, he would make the most of. But now, things were different. Now, he knew what he had to do. He’d tossed and turned all night, debating with himself and rethinking his decision, but every argument came to the same conclusion. As hard as it would be to say goodbye, he believed that there was at least one thing that he could now be certain about. He needed to tell Oikawa to leave without him. Iwaizumi figured that he would probably be pissed at first, but maybe they’d be able to make things work long-distance. But, he still believed that it was his fault that they'd lost the match against Karasuno that got them to this point and he would be damned if he held him back any more.

"Tooru, I need to tell you something."

"No. Let me go first, Iwaizumi."

"I-Iwaizumi?"

“I’m going to Argentina alone.”

“What?” Iwa couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen. Maybe he really does hate me. It’s all my fault. He knows that I’m no good for him. He wants to move on._

“I’m going to Argentina alone and I need you to stay here.”

“Oikawa, please, I’m so sorry. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about and I know that I ruined everything for you but-”

“You haven’t ruined anything, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa looked down at his feet and a tear escaped out of the side of his eye, but he wiped it away quickly before continuing. “I’m the one who’s ruined everything for you.”

Iwaizumi was in shock. “What?”

“Be-because of me, you don’t have a plan for the future. I should have pushed you harder to take the college prep classes, but I was being selfish. I talked to your mother and she told me that you’ve never talked about anything concerning your future other than watching out for me and I can’t let you do that. I _won’t_ let you do that to yourself. I want you to come with me. _God,_ I really want you to come with me…and I want us to continue how we are now…but you can’t and,” he hesitated, “we-we can’t. Be together. At least not right now.”

The tears were now freely flowing down Iwaizumi’s face. “Tooru, please,” he choked out between sobs. “I-I lo-”

“Hajime.” Oikawa was now speaking through tears, his voice sounded painful. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is. You have no idea how badly I want you to come with me, or for me to stay here with you. Hell, I’m this close to just saying ‘fuck it’ and canceling my flight. But…but this is the point where we need to part ways.” He took some deep breaths to recollect himself. “I-I applied to a college for you and you got in. Your acceptance letter is downstairs.”

“When did you…why would you…how did-” Iwaizumi was cut off when Oikawa leaned in and kissed him tenderly. It felt like a goodbye.

“If you love me, then please let me leave. And I know that this is selfish of me to ask of you but please go to college. You have so much potential. I know that you’re going to do great things. And that won’t happen by following me.”

“Wh-who’s going to look after you?” Iwaizumi’s tears were nearly all spent and he looked exhausted.

Oikawa let out a sad laugh. “You’ve always been kind of like my keeper, haven’t you Iwa-chan? I’ve appreciated that more than you could ever know, but now it’s time for me to look after you.”

“I don’t know how to live without you.”

“I don’t either…but we’ll figure it out…on our own. And if we’re truly meant to be then,” he finally looked up and made direct eye contact with Iwaizumi, “then we’ll find our way back to each other.”

Iwaizumi tried to force words to come out of his mouth, to do anything. To scream or yell or cry but all that he could do was take in the sight in front of him as Oikawa reached up and rubbed his thumb over Iwaizumi’s cheek one last time before whispering “goodbye,” and walking out of the room. Walking out of his life.

As soon as the door closed, Iwaizumi collapsed on the floor, legs giving out from underneath him, and unleashed a sob that shook the entire house. His mother ran in shortly after, tears running down her own face, and sat on the floor with him, holding him tightly and rubbing his back in an attempt to soothe him.

It wasn’t working. “H-h-he just left me!” Iwaizumi choked out, his sobs only growing louder. “I-I was going t-to tel-ll him to go b-by him-self, but t-this isn’t what I w-wanted! I didn’t even get t-to tell him th-that I l-love him…”

“Shhh,” she whispered as she hugged him tight, “it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“H-how can you possibly know that? You d-didn’t hear what he s-said.”

“You’re right. I don’t know what he said. But what I do know is that, if this was his decision, then he believes that what he’s doing is the right thing. You and I both know that he would never intentionally hurt you.”

Iwaizumi looked up at his mother. She bit back tears as she saw the wrecked look on her son’s face. “I-I love him.”

“I know, sweetheart…I know.”

His voice had gotten softer, just barely above a whisper, as he still laid in his mother’s arms. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“Well for starters, there’s a letter downstairs with your name on it.”

“Oh my god, he was being serious?”

“He was.”

“I guess…I guess if that’s what he wants, then that’s what I’ll try to do.”

“Is that what _you_ want to do, Hajime?”

“Yeah,” he said with a shaky voice and cleared his throat before finishing, “Yeah, I think it is. I’m not letting him go without a fight, but for now, I think that this will be okay.”

Nine Months Later

Iwaizumi was sitting in his dorm room alone on a chilly December morning sipping on a mug of hot chocolate while attempting to write an essay that he had effectively put off until the very last second. “Why do I do this every single time?” he muttered to himself under his breath and continued furiously typing away at his keyboard. After about an hour or so, he stretched and stood up from his desk, looking down at the single paragraph that he had managed to write, and decided that it was time to take a break. He lay down on his bed and turned his phone on, opting to mindlessly scroll through instagram. He thought back to the times when he and Oikawa would sit on his bed together and make fun of people and create scenarios for every post they saw. They’d done this for years and, even though some may think them a bit mean, it had been one of their favorite past-times. He started to tear up at the memories, wanting nothing more than for Oikawa to be sitting next to him right then, but he wiped away at his eyes quickly and decided to take a nap, snuggling into his blanket and allowing himself to be overtaken by sleep…until he was jolted out of his slumber by the furious knocking on his door.

“Oh my god, _whaaaaaat?_ ” he drew out, drowsiness making him a bit cranky. He immediately woke up, however, when he saw who was at the door.

“Well, hello darling.”

“Makki!?”

“In the flesh,” his friend said with a grin as Iwaizumi pulled him into a tight hug.

“Nobody has heard from you since graduation! You and Mattsun just kind of fell off the face of the earth,” he frowned.

“Ah, yeah. Oops.” Hanamaki simply shrugged.

“That, that’s it? I don’t get an explanation?”

“Nothing to explain. It’s not super important.”

Suddenly, Iwaizumi caught something glint out of the corner of his eye and he gasped. “Is that a ring on your finger!?”

“Nope.”

“It’s literally right there.”

“It’s a purity ring.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“You know I would love to let you but, as I just stated, I am, in fact, saving myself for marriage.”

“Yeah, try telling that to Kunimi. I’m pretty sure he’s still in therapy after what he saw on the bus…”

Makki laughed uncontrollably, clutching onto his sides for support, “oh my god, you should have seen his face. It was fucking priceless.”

They sat and chatted for a while, catching up on life and reliving some of their favorite memories from high school, until Iwaizumi asked what he had been wondering since his friend showed up.

“So, Makki, when are you going to tell me why exactly you’re here? Not that I mind, it’s actually been really great seeing you, but I know you too well. You wouldn’t just show up without a reason.”

“Well, Hajime, if you must know, I’ve come to set you straight. Well, not _straight._ I’m pretty sure you ruined that for yourself last year.” He chuckled before continuing. “But you see, I know you pretty well, too. And I know that you’re not stupid. You realize what’s coming up.”

Iwaizumi bit the inside of his cheek nervously. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh I know damn well you do. Do the words ‘New Year’s Eve’ ring any bells?”

“Ah…” Iwaizumi trailed off. _“That.”_

Makki looked at him with concern on his face. “What are you doing, Iwa?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what are you doing here when you and I both know where you want to be. Have you even talked to him since that day?”

“Yeah, we text pretty frequently. He’s still my best friend, that’s never going to change. It’s just that now it’s,” he looked down and fidgeted with his hands in his lap, “different.”

Makki placed one hand over Iwaizumi’s to calm them. “It doesn’t have to be, ya know?”

“He told me not to follow him, Makki. He told me to stay here and go to college. And you know what? I actually really fucking love it here. The only thing that’s missing…is him.”

“And I’m not saying that you need to leave your life here or move to Argentina or anything like that, but I think that you do need to be honest with yourself and with him. You owe it to yourself. I know that you’re in love with him.” Iwaizumi’s eyes went wide. “And I also know why you never told him, but look at me.” He held his friend’s gaze with an intensity that seared into the other. “You are enough. And you are not a failure. I know that high school was kind of rough for you and that you blamed yourself for a lot of shit that happened,” Iwa winced in remembrance, “but nothing that happened was your fault. And even just sitting here with you now, I can tell just how much you’ve changed. You seem so sure of yourself and confident in your decisions and that’s all that Tooru ever wanted for you.”

“Do, do you think that I should tell him? How I feel, I mean?”

“Well that’s entirely up to you, dumbass.” He chuckled before adding with a wink, “but if it were me and Mattsun, I would.”

The pair talked for a bit longer before Makki announced that he needed to leave, as he had a flight to catch.

“Where the hell are you even going?” Iwaizumi asked incredulously.

“Now that, my friend, is another story for another time.” He pulled Iwaizumi into a tight hug before taking his leave. “Let me know how it goes, okay? I’ve always been rooting for you.”

And just like that, Hanamaki was gone, leaving Iwaizumi alone in his dorm room with only himself and his thoughts. He did still love Oikawa, that much was very true. But was it enough?

He sat at his desk once again and stared at the snow globe sitting in the corner. He picked it up and shook it once, watching as the glitter fell and settled like the snow laying on the ground outside.

_I wonder if it snows in Argentina._

Oikawa was sitting in his apartment completely bored out of his mind. He had just gotten back from volleyball practice and decided to absentmindedly flip through the channels on the television to distract himself, settling on some cooking show solely for background noise as he lamented in the fact that it was the holidays and he was exactly where he did not want to be. He loved Argentina, that much was very apparent, but he also wanted nothing more than to be home right now with his family, getting ready to ring in the New Year. His breath hitched at the last thought.

_The New Year, huh? Now that’s a night I’ll never forget…_

He kicked his feet up on the coffee table in front of him and threw his head back, letting out a rather exasperated sigh. After a couple of hours and a shower later, he’d decided to go out and get some dinner at his favorite restaurant. When he opened the door to leave, however, he was greeted with a sight that almost made him scream.

“Ma-Mattsun!?”

“Sup?”

Shock was written all over Oikawa’s face as he attempted and failed to compose his thoughts. “Don’t ‘sup?’ me! How the hell are you even here!?”

“I flew?” Matsukawa stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No shit, Sherlock. I mean how the hell are you in Argentina?”

“Ah that. Well if you wanted to know, you should’ve just asked,” he chuckled and Oikawa folded his arms over his chest. “But if you really must know, I’m here on a bit of a…business trip.”

“I- you know what. I don’t want to know. But how did you know where I lived? I don’t actually remember giving you my address. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard from you _or_ Makki since after we graduated. What the heck happened to you guys? And, oh my god, is that a ring on your finger!?” Oikawa yelped.

“Well, to answer your _plethora_ of questions. You never deleted the GPS tracker app off of your phone that we downloaded on it in high school, so I just found you on that and followed it here.”

“Th-the _what_ on my phone?”

Mattsun didn’t falter as he continued. “It doesn’t really matter what Makki and I have been up to, just know that he makes me _very_ happy,” he stated with a suggestive wink.

“Gross…”

“And, no, it is not a ring on my finger. It is simply a figment of your imagination. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he pushed past Oikawa and walked into the apartment, throwing his bag down on the floor and draping himself over the couch.

“Sure, make yourself at home,” Oikawa muttered under his breath as he squeezed into a small spot on his couch that wasn’t being taken up by his new, large visitor, whom he turned to and asked, “what the hell kind of business trip are you here on, anyway? What are you here for?”

“You,” Matsukawa shrugged.

“I’m sorry?”

“You, Tooru. Y. O. U.”

“Yeah, _thank you,_ I heard you the first time.” He rolled his eyes. “Now what do you mean?”

“Look, man you know that I’ve never been one to beat around the bush so I’m just gonna come out and say it. You need to talk to Iwaizumi. It’s obvious that you still have strong feelings for him and you’re only fucking yourself by not being open about them.”

Oikawa couldn’t speak. He was very aware of his feelings for Iwaizumi. Hell, he was still head-over-heels in love with him. But he’d left. He’d told the love of his life to stay in Japan and he left to go live on a completely different continent. He’d been selfish and he didn’t know if the other would ever forgive him for it.

Mattsun continued. “And I know that you’ve probably been pretty emotional and thinking about it a lot with what’s coming up in just a couple of days, and as much as I acted like I hated you in high school, I actually really care about you as a friend, Tooru. I don’t want to see you hurting.”

“W-what if he hates me?” Oikawa uttered in a small voice.

“Don’t you still talk to him?”

“Well, yeah, but we mostly just text. He could just be really good at hiding it.”

“Ah, okay, so we must not be talking about the same Iwaizumi Hajime, then. My bad.” Matsukawa said with a shrug.

Oikawa was visibly confused. “What?”

“Yeah, we must not be talking about the same person because the Iwaizumi that you’re talking about apparently hates you and is really good at hiding that he actually does. And the Iwaizumi that _I’m_ talking about is, first of all, is one of the most obvious people I know and not discreet at all. And second of all, is the Iwaizumi that’s stuck with your ass through literally everything for a long, long time. My bad.”

Oikawa paused for a moment, taking in all that his friend had just said before continuing. “I, I still love him, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And I know that he did, once too. He may have never said it out loud, but I knew. But I’m afraid that he doesn’t anymore because of everything that’s happened.”

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out, now isn’t there?”

“There is?”

“I swear to god, did moving halfway across the world make you even denser than you were?”

“Hey! That’s not-”

“You need to talk to him. You need to tell him how you feel; that’s the only way you’re going to find out how _he_ feels. This isn’t some guessing game.”

“You-you really think I should?”

Mattsun softened his expression a bit, “I do.” Just then, his phone dinged and he lookd at the text he’d received with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to leave.”

“Y-you’re just going to come barge into my home. _In an entirely different country._ Drop a bomb like that, and then leave!?”

“I’ve gotta go pick Makki up from the airport. What do you want me to do, leave him there? I’m not that cruel, Tooru.”

Oikawa just laughed and shook his head. “I’m never going to understand you two.”

“And that’s exactly how I like it.” Mattsun placed a hand on Oikawa’s shoulder before pulling him into a brief hug. “I believe in you, ya know? Always have, always will. Go get your man.”

And just like that, Matsukawa sauntered out and Oikawa was left alone in his apartment once again.

_I wonder how much a last-minute flight to Japan would cost…_

It was the morning of New Year’s Eve and Iwaizumi hadn’t slept a wink, his mind too cluttered with thoughts and concerns and hopes to sleep. He’s spent hours contemplating the decision he was about to make and weighing the pros and cons of how the scenario could potentially play out. Everything in his mind was telling him that this was a bad idea, that he would just be wasting his time and money only to be heartbroken once again. But he also couldn’t ignore the fact that everything in his heart was telling him that he needed to at least try.

 _You know what, fuck it._ He threw the covers off of himself violently and sat down at his desk in front of his computer. There was no hesitation at all as he typed into the search bar: “Flights to Argentina today.” The cheapest one that he’d been able to find on such short notice was for $1,000 and was leaving in an hour and a half, but he didn’t even think twice as he clicked on “purchase.”

After quickly throwing the contents of an entire drawer into his bag, not even caring what he had actually managed to pack, he found himself on the way to the airport. Suddenly, he remembered that he had promised his mother that he would be coming home for the holiday and cursed to himself before dialing her number.

It only rang twice before she picked up. “Hey, sweetheart! Are you on your way?”

Iwaizumi bit his lip. “Well…I’m definitely on my way…just not exactly home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you see, I’m kind of, maybe, on my way to the airport? To catch a flight to Argentina? That leaves in an hour?”

He cringed when he was met with silence, waiting to be yelled at over the line. What he was not expecting was for her to let out a sigh of relief. “Well it’s about damn time. I’ve been getting pretty impatient over here, you know?”

“You’ve…what? You’re okay with this?”

“Yes, Hajime, I am more than okay with this! I was beginning to think that I was going to have to pack you up myself and ship you away to see him.”

“Oh my god, mom, what?” they both laughed.

“So you’re really doing it, huh?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. I still love him, you know.”

“Trust me, I know. I’m your mother.”

“I think, I think I’m finally going to tell him how I really feel about him. I don’t feel anything holding me back anymore. _God,_ I wish I would have told him before now, but I can’t keep it in any longer. I am so in love with him and I just hope he still feels the same way.”

“Well, I guess you’re about to find out, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am…” he trailed off for a moment before continuing. “Hey mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For everything. For always being there for me. For being my biggest supporter. For loving me and for loving him. For making us both feel accepted. Just…everything.”

“I am pretty great aren’t I?” she chuckled. “You don’t have to thank me, Hajime. I’m your mother, it’s my job. But you’re welcome. Just know that I will always be here for you no matter what.”

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you more than you could ever know. Now stop talking to me and go get Tooru back! Just be safe and please let me know when you’re there so I know that your plane didn’t crash or anything. That would kind of suck.”

Iwaizumi chuckled. “You know I will.” He hung up the phone and set his eyes forward, focusing on the road as he pulled into the airport terminal. He smiled to himself, feeling more at peace than he had in a while. _This is really happening._

Forty-five minutes later, Iwaizumi found himself sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair as he waited for the plane that was coming _from_ Argentina to land so that he and the others around him could board the one going _to_ Argentina. He started getting antsier when he saw the plane finally arrive, knowing that it was just a matter of time now. He would get on the plane, and before he knew it, he would be in a different country, hopefully with the love of his life. He hadn’t even stopped to consider, since this morning, the possibility that Oikawa wouldn’t still feel the same way and that he would be doing this for nothing. He just _knew._

He had his ear buds in, listening to music, as he watched the passengers getting off of the flight now making their way into the airport. He smiled to himself when a familiar tune rang through his ears as the song changed.

_“I have loved you since we were 18”_

It was the song that Oikawa had sung to him that night in his room. He couldn’t help but think about how much the words rang true for him in this moment.

_“Long before we both thought the same thing”_

An announcement rang out over the speaker that informed everyone that boarding for the flight would be happening in just a moment. He gathered his bag and stood up, stretching his back, and started to move over to line up when his group was called.

_“To be loved and to be in love”_

But he caught something out of the corner of his eye that made him stop completely. Surely it couldn’t be…

_“And all I can do is say that these arms are made for holding you”_

Walking off of the plane was someone that he knew. Someone with the softest hair imaginable and the cutest giggle and the widest smile and the biggest heart.

_“And I want a love like you made me feel…when we were 18.”_

“T-tooru?” he whispered to himself, much too quiet for the other to hear, and he felt his body moving before his brain could even comprehend if what he was seeing was actually reality, and not just a figment of his sleep-deprived imagination. He started walking, which turned into a light jog, which turned into a full-on sprint as he ran to catch up with the brunette who was making his way to collect his luggage. He stopped behind the man, who was turned away from him, and asked in a shaky voice, louder this time. “Tooru?”

When the other turned around, it was like all of the air had been sucked out of Iwaizumi’s body. He couldn’t remember how to breathe, or think, or do anything really other than stare.

Oikawa looked just as shocked as he covered his mouth with both hands, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. “Ha-Hajime? Oh my god, Hajime, it really is you!” He ran forward and threw his arms around Iwaizumi’s neck, pulling him in close.

Once Iwaizumi had come back to his senses, now convinced that everything that was happening was real, he returned the hug and held the other tight against him, tears now falling freely down his cheeks as well.

Oikawa pulled back for a moment, though never letting go of the other, and spoke. “Hajime, I came because I need to tell you something. I’ve missed you so, so much and I’d rather die than let another day go by without being with-” but he was cut off by soft lips on his. He was caught off guard at first, but quickly melted into the kiss, the saltiness from their combined tears mixing in as their mouths moved against one another. It was slow and gentle and passionate and held a multitude of emotions that would be enough to overwhelm anyone. But they didn’t care. They continued to move against one another like it was the very source of the air in their lungs. They only pulled apart once they could no longer breathe, gasping for air, but continuing to hold on to the other tightly.

Oikawa spoke first, deep brown eyes moving up to meet the olive green ones in front of him. “Wait, so does this mean…”

“That I just wasted $1,000 on a last-minute flight? Yeah, yeah it does.” Oikawa pouted and Iwaizumi let out a laugh. “But it also means that I love you, idiot.”

“Hajime…”

“I, I think that I’ve always loved you, ever since we were kids. But-” he bit the inside of his cheek.

Oikawa started stroking Iwaizumi’s arms lightly with his fingertips as he spoke. “Yeah?”

“But I think I _fell_ in love with you on New Year’s Eve.” Oikawa looked like he wanted to say something, but Iwaizumi didn’t give him the chance. “Listen, Tooru, I know that we’ve been through a lot in this past year. And as much as I wish that I could have been with you the entire time, I know now why I couldn’t be. I was heartbroken when you left,” Oikawa started to cry again but Iwaizumi kissed the tears away, “but you did the right thing.”

“I-I did?” Oikawa choked out through the tears.

“You did, and I’m so thankful that you were strong enough to make that decision for the both of us. We needed to find ourselves before finding each other again. But now that I have you again, I don’t ever want another day to go by without you knowing just how much I love you. You make me feel whole and I am so utterly and hopelessly in love with you, Oikawa Tooru. Is there any way that I could convince you to take me back?” he asked with hope in his eyes.

Oikawa simply laughed as he threw his arms back around the other. “If you even have to ask, then you might actually be dumber than I thought! Yes, Hajime, yes! I want you. I _need_ you. And I am so very much in love with you too. In fact, I think I want to shout it out so that everyone knows.” He cupped his hands around his mouth before yelling loudly to the entire airport, “I love you, Iwaizumi Hajime!!”

Iwaizumi pulled Oikawa’s face to his own, silencing him with a kiss, not even caring about the multitudes of stares that were now on them. He wanted them to stare. He wanted everyone to know that Oikawa was his and only his, and would be forever.

_“I love you.”_

_“I love you.”_

A couple of hours later, the pair found themselves cuddling on the bed in Iwaizumi’s dorm room, latched onto each other with a tightness that insinuated that if they let go, the other might fly away. They’d talked about anything and everything on the car ride over, but now, lying against each other, the room was enveloped in a comforting silence. The only sounds that could be heard were their contented breathing and slow heartbeats.

After a while, Oikawa whispered into Iwaizumi’s chest, “so how are we going to make this work?”

“Make what work?” Iwaizumi stroked Oikawa’s hair.

“You being here and me being in Argentina. Won’t it be kind of difficult?”

“It will,” Iwaizumi lifted Oikawa’s face to look at his own, “but we’ll make it work, one way or another. If there’s anything that I’ve learned lately, it’s that we’re pretty resilient. Even though we may not always be in the same place physically, we’ll always be in each other’s heart. And if that’s how things need to be for a little while, then I’m so down, as long as I get too talk to you and tell you how much I love you at the end of the day.”

“How do you always know just what to say?”

“It’s a gift.”

“It’s annoying, is what it is,” Iwaizumi chuckled as Oikawa nuzzled his face back into his chest, “but you’re right. We’ll make it work. We’ll be okay. I love you, you know?”

“I love you, too.”

They both smiled and continued to lay in silence before Iwaizumi spoke up next. “Hey, do you wanna go see mom for a bit? I kind of forgot to tell her that I missed my flight, and if she doesn’t hear from me soon she might send a search-party to look for my body somewhere at sea. Also, I know that she’d love to see you.”

Oikawa giggled. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“And then we can come back here and do _whatever_ you want. I feel like we have _a lot_ to catch up on still,” Iwaizumi added suggestively.

“Now that sounds like an even greater idea!”

They reluctantly broke apart and hopped off of the warm bed so that they could put their shoes and coats on and get ready to leave.

“Hey, Iwa-chan, quick question.”

“What’s up babe?”

“Babe? Oooh, I like that,” he said in a low voice that made Iwaizumi blush. “But what I was going to ask is if your roommate will be okay with me coming over? You can’t expect me to just stay in Argentina all the time and not come see you. I’m going to need my Iwa-fix you know?”

Iwaizumi chuckled. “Yeah, he shouldn’t have a problem with it. It took me a bit of time to come around to him, but he’s a pretty chill guy. You actually know him, believe it or not.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, he was a third-year when we were.”

“Hmmm, interesting…” Oikawa trailed off as he went to open the door to leave. What he was not expecting to see, however, was the imposing figure standing before him.

“Oh, Oikawa Tooru. You are in my room. This is surprising, but not unwelcome.”

Oikawa looked up at Ushijima with disgust on his face as Iwaizumi simply laughed behind him. “Oh, abso- _fucking_ -lutely not.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! If you've made it to the this point then I want to say thank you so much for reading my first ever fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed it... I really had so much fun writing this and I hope that maybe you were able to get the same joy out of it that I feel. Also, I've been debating writing a Matsuhana spin-off to fill in some of the cracks. Thoughts? Thanks again! I hope you have an amazing day :)


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